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Viewing cable 07JOHANNESBURG302, SOUTH AFRICA: OPINIONS ON CHINA

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07JOHANNESBURG302 2007-10-24 08:37 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate Johannesburg
VZCZCXRO7708
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHJO #0302/01 2970837
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 240837Z OCT 07
FM AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6017
INFO RUCNSAD/SADC COLLECTIVE
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 0005
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0042
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 0001
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 2764
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JOHANNESBURG 000302 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS DOL/ILAB FOR SUDHA HALEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON PREL ELAB SF CH
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA: OPINIONS ON CHINA 
 
REF: STATE 136164 
 
JOHANNESBU 00000302  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
1.  Summary:   Consul General recently received his counterpart, 
newly-arrived Chinese Consul General FANG Li, and discussed 
US-China cooperation under the Strategic Economic Dialogue, as 
well as preparations for South Africa's hosting of the 2010 
World Cup Soccer.   An October 18 discussion on China in Africa 
organized under the auspices of the South African Institute of 
International Affairs meanwhile offered a variety of 
perspectives on China's involvement in Africa.   Several 
speakers, including the Ambassador of Peru and High Commissioner 
of Singapore, used carefully nuanced language in noting the 
benefits and possible pitfalls of enhanced engagement.  End 
Summary. 
 
2.   Consul General Coffman met with his newly-arrived 
counterpart on October 18.  During the courtesy call, Mr. Fang 
made a point of commenting that China and the U.S. were 
cooperating on a variety of issues, including North Korea and 
Sudan, and that he was looking forward to working with the U.S. 
Consulate General on a number of issues, particularly, security. 
   CG Coffman explained how he planned to use his role as the US 
Mission's coordinator for assistance to South Africa on the 2010 
World Cup preparations to energize the Johannesburg Consular 
Corps to come together on a number of common issues, among which 
security was the top priority.  The Chinese Consul General 
seemed seriously concerned for the safety of his compatriots 
given Joburg's record of violent criminality, a fair share which 
is directed to the Chinese community.  Mr. Fang also talked 
about his experiences serving in the U.S., first in the Embassy 
in Washington a number of years ago, and more recently having 
served as Deputy Consul General in Houston. 
 
3.   In a separate meeting on China's role in Africa, also on 
October 18, organized by the South African Institute for 
International Affairs (SAIIA), Dr. Chris Alden of the London 
School of Economics commented that China perceived its policies 
in Africa as founded on mutual benefits rather than 
exploitation.  China's primary interests in Africa were 
unblocked access to resources and impeded access to markets; its 
philosophy was mercantilist and it adhered to ASEAN principles 
of non-interference.   Alden also highlighted China's concern 
over the U.S. "bending" of nuclear rules for India in an attempt 
to enlist it against China.   Singapore's High Commissioner to 
South Africa, Mr. Justice Rubin, provided an overview of trade 
statistics that graphically illustrated huge increases in 
African and Southeast Asian trade with China over the past two 
years.  He noted that Singapore could no longer compete on 
low-end manufacturing but had moved to higher end products. 
The High Commissioner also noted that historically China had not 
engaged in colonization, and, in carefully nuanced language, 
noted that there had been much speculation on China's motives, 
with more questions being raised than answered.  He concluded 
that he saw grounds for optimism in Chinese engagement with 
Africa. 
 
4.  Peru's Ambassador to South Africa, Dr. F.C.  Calderon, 
commented on Latin American perceptions of China as well as the 
impact of the commodities boom, fueled by China's and India's 
economic surge, on Latin American economies.  He noted that 
China now owned 90 percent of a copper deposit in Peru, one of 
the 20 largest such in the world.  Dr. Calderon said that five 
percent of Peru's population was ethnically Chinese and that 
cultural values were very close.  He noted that China's appetite 
for investment and the work ethic of its people allied with 
their entrepreneurial culture had many benefits.  However, the 
textile industry provided an example of conflicting interests, 
where Chinese imports had created substantial employment losses 
in Peru, and had led to a limited quota system on Chinese 
manufacturing.   Another participant noted that a recent 
Brenthurst discussion proposed China as a model of economic 
development in terms of attracting foreign investment though 
China's own dominance of light manufacturing made it unlikely 
that other countries could use that method to climb the 
development ladder.   He noted that there had been no consensus 
whether China's policy of non-interference would impact on good 
governance or definitions thereof and whether this would assist 
on peace and security and conflict resolution issues.   He also 
noted that China did not precondition its assistance on the 
development of democracy. 
 
5.   Comment:  Audience questions varied but ranged from whether 
China respected and protected indigenous knowledge to the extent 
of its regard for Southern African labor laws.  Certain 
questions, such as one on the likely impact of Chinese influence 
on African business environments described as characterized by 
corruption and high barriers to entry for newcomers, 
demonstrated a fair amount of skepticism regarding the extent of 
mutual benefit to African populations.   The speakers, while 
 
JOHANNESBU 00000302  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
carefully choosing their language, noted that China's impact on 
Africa would have both beneficial and detrimental aspects.  End 
Comment. 
COFFMAN