China eyes power, energy partners at A-A Summit
China eyes power, energy partners at A-A Summit
Verna Yu, Agence France-Presse/Beijing
China will seek to foster new friendships with Asian and African countries at the Bandung Conference this week to increase its political clout and pursue its relentless quest for energy, analysts say.
Fifty years ago, when the conference, also known as the Asian- African Summit, was last held, China's Communist government was still facing diplomatic isolation, with no United Nations membership and no recognition from most countries in the world.
But it has slowly gained status, beginning with support from fellow developing African and Asian countries, many of whom were participants at the initial Bandung Conference in 1955.
"That's why China joined the Bandung, to find new friends," said He Wenping, director of African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Science.
Half a century on, the new international order after the Cold War and the rise of the United States' hegemonic power has seen China gain new clout.
"China has many friends in Africa, they are extremely important in China's foreign diplomacy, and China now has new interests in Africa -- economy and energy," said Shi Yinhong, political scientist at the People's University in Beijing.
China has long advocated multilateralism in international affairs and seeks solidarity with Asian and African countries to rein in what it considers U.S. unilateralism, analysts said.
"China wants to seek Asia-African cooperation because if Asia and Africa -- even better if Latin America is included -- become stronger, that will keep unilateralism in check," he said.
"Most developing countries are against this kind of behavior on the international stage, they want to seek out something different," she said.
Another issue high on the agenda of China's delegation led by President Hu Jintao will be its quest for energy and natural resources that are needed to maintain its dazzling economic growth of more than 9 percent.
Asia's second-largest economy is already the second-biggest user of oil after the United States, importing 122 million tonnes in 2004, up 34.8 percent from the previous year.
As such, China wants closer ties with Asia and African countries to tap their vast oil and gas supplies, analysts said.
A net importer of petroleum products since 1993 and of crude oil since 1996, China is reliant on overseas producers for one- third of its supplies -- a share that is expected to rise to 60 percent by 2020.
"In order to maintain the sustainable economic development, and now we're short of those natural resources, especially oil, there is great need for the Chinese government to seek oil resources from abroad," He said.
"Africa has this potential, it is quite natural for China and Africa to grow close to each other. Even though Africa has resources, it lacks the technology and money to develop it," she said.
But China's new policy of prospecting for oil in Africa has also drawn criticism in the West. It was blasted for stymying U.S. efforts to levy sanctions on Sudan to protect its interests in Sudan's oil industry.
China though sees nothing wrong with its quest for oil in Africa and believes it is providing technology and financial investment to help the continent onto a road of self-reliance and development.
"We are already actively participating in oil exploration in Sudan, and are engaged in cooperation with Indonesia. We plan similar cooperation in Asia and Africa," Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei told journalists.
"This kind of cooperation is very normal. It is based on equality, mutual benefit, cooperation and the win-win basis."
Analysts said China will also use the conference in Jakarta as a platform to seek closer cooperation and solve disputes with other Asian countries.
Its relations with Japan have hit rock bottom in recent week as tens of thousands of Chinese people took to the streets to protest Japan's approval of a nationalist textbook that downplays Japan's wartime atrocities.
With the backdrop of a summit which touts peace and cooperation, the commitments to these values will be put to a severe test with Sino-Japanese ties at their worst since diplomatic relations were established in 1972.
As well as the Bandung Conference, Hu will pay state visits to Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore before returning home on April 28.