CHINA-AFRICA RELATIONS GOVERNANCE, PEACE AND SECURITY Editors Mulugeta Gebrehiwot Berhe and Liu Hongwu CHINA-AFRICA RELATIONS GOVERNANCE, PEACE AND SECURITY Editors Mulugeta Gebrehiwot Berhe and Liu Hongwu Copyright © 2013 Institute for Peace and Security Studies (Addis Ababa University) and Institute of African Studies (Zhejiang Normal University) Printed in Ethiopia All rights reserved. The views expressed in this book are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institutes. ISBN 978-99944-981-1-6 Preface Relations between China and Africa have been gathering pace and getting depth since a couple of decades ago. In the wake of the 21st century, China-Africa ties have been further cemented in both the political and economic spheres. Both Africa and China have been enthusiastic working toward a strategic and sustained partnership. Both sides have been working towards making their relationships a genuine South- South cooperation benefiting their long-term interests. While work of cementing this partnership is ongoing, the coming decades will be decades of more challenges and opportunities when seen from this perspective. Identifying the right path for a genuine South-South relationship and promoting effective communication and understanding around common interests is therefore an intellectual challenge in the relationships in the coming decades. Scholarship plays an indispensable role to strengthen the relationship. Actors in China need a better understanding of the needs, expectations and social psyche of Africans and identify the right approach to promote the long-term interests of China. By the same token Africa needs to clearly articulate its long term interests in its relationship with China and cautiously evaluate the alternative provided by China so that it can make an informed choice for the benefit of its people. It is only through the support of cutting-edge research that correct policies for a genuine South-South relationship could be defined and pursued. It is with this understanding that the Zhejiang Normal University (ZNU) took the initiative to establish the China-Africa Think Tanks Forum (CATTF) upon the approval of Chinese and African leaders within the context of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). The CATTF has been formed to serve as a high-end platform for academic exchanges and ideological dialogue between China and Africa. While sticking to the governing tenets of Civil Initiative, Government Support, Frank Dialogue and Consensus Building, CATTF aims to promote academic research, boost mutual understanding, and expand Sino-African consensus.1 We are looking to generate policy recommendations for the sustainable development of Sino-African relations in this new era of cooperation, to benefit the Chinese and African people. 1 Zhou Lei, Ri Yao, Meng Yong, Mi Xue, Xu Zhenghong, China-Africa Think Tanks: The Way Ahead, Africa Magazine Date, http://www.focac.org/eng/xsjl/t894943.htm iii The CATTF enjoys recognition and support from the Chinese government and institutions, as evidenced by the acknowledgement accorded to the crucial role of CATTF in Sino-African cultural exchange at the 5th FOCAC Ministerial Meeting by President Hu Jintao. The Beijing Action Plan (2013-2015), furthermore, recognizes that the CATTF has created a new pattern of interactions and exchanges between the academia of China and Africa, and pledges to institutionalize the Forum and promote the building of long-term and stable cooperation between the academia of China and African countries.2 The 1st meeting of the CATTF was held, as a sideline event of the 8th Senior Officials Meeting of the FOCAC, in Hangzhou and Jinhua of east China’s Zhejiang Province in October 2011. The meeting was widely praised and acknowledged for its open atmosphere and academic output.3 The 2nd Meeting of the CATTF was co-hosted by the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) of Addis Ababa University (AAU) and the Institute of African Studies (IAS) of ZNU on 12-13 October 2012 in Bishoftu, Ethiopia. The event was attended by more than 100 officials and scholars from 15 countries (in alphabetical order: Belgium, Britain, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, United States, Zambia, Zimbabwe), and representatives from the African Union Commission (AUC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Chinese and African think tanks, and other regional organizations. Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Demeke Mekonnen, Vice Governor of Zhejiang Province Zheng Jiwei, Chief of Staff of the General Office of the UNECA Adeyemi DipeiLu, Director-General of the African Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Lu Shaye, Ambassador of China to Ethiopia Xie Xiaoyan, President of Addis Ababa University Admasu Tsegaye, Secretary of the Party Committee of Zhejiang Normal University Chen Dexi attended the opening ceremony and delivered keynotes speeches. 2 The fifth Ministerial Conference of The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Beijing Action Plan (2013-2015): 6.4.2 The two sides noted the holding of the first FOCAC Think Tanks Forum on the sidelines of the eighth FOCAC Senior Officials Meeting in Hangzhou in 2011 and its results and believed that the forum created a new pattern of interactions and exchanges between the academia of China and Africa. The two sides agreed to institutionalize the forum and promote the building of long-term and stable cooperation between the academia of China and African countries. http://www. focac.org/eng/ltda/dwjbzjjhys/hywj/t954620.htm 3 http://www.focac.org/chn/xsjl/t880275.htmth iv Held under the main theme: Chinese and African Common Interests: Current Issues and Future Perspectives on Governance, Peace and Security, 48 papers were presented and debated in four breakaway groups on the first day of the meeting. The second-day session discussed the summary of the breakaway groups’ reports. The conference also discussed some forward looking issues and agreed on the need of continuing such dialogue around China-Africa relationships. After the meeting, participants visited the Eastern Industry Park at Dukem and the new African Union building complex constructed with China’s assistance. All these activities deepened the understanding between China and Africa and enhanced the cooperation between the academia of China and African countries. This edited volume contains about half of the papers presented during the 2nd Meeting of the CATTF. The papers benefitted from the deliberations, debates, critiques and idea exchanges of the meeting, and as such serve as a reflection of the positive result of the 2nd Meeting of the CATTF. It is the firm belief of the IAS and IPSS that this book is invaluable for students and scholars of China-Africa relations, governments, policy makers, businesspeople, higher learning institutions, NGOs, CSOs and other interested organizations and individuals. The IAS and IPSS hope the readership find the contents of this book insightful, informative and critical. Liu Hongwu Mulugeta Gebrehiwot Director, IAS Director, IPSS ZNU, China AAU, Ethiopia v Acknowledgements This volume holds a selection of papers presented during the 2nd Meeting of the China-Africa Think Tanks Forum (CATTF), which was co-hosted by the Institute of African Studies (IAS, Zhejiang Normal University) and the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS). Our thanks goes both to the Embassy of China in Ethiopia and the Addis Ababa University for facilitating and creating the partnership environment which made the event a success leading to the publication of this volume. We also thank the IAS for co-financing the Forum. Preparation and follow up of the call for papers, development of the selection criteria, creation of the selection panel and completion of the selection of abstracts were organized by Fana Gebresenbet and Getachew Zeru. Fana was also instrumental in the whole process of completing this book including the further selection of articles for publication and organization and follow up of the editorial process. We acknowledge his diligence and dedication in steering the process for bringing this book together. Organization of the Forum was superbly done by the Operations Team of IPSS, headed by the meticulously diligent Helen Yosef. Xiao Yuhua has also taken part in the organization of the Forum representing the IAS. We would like to acknowledge and thank him for liaising smoothly between the two Institutes, and making the partnership a fruitful one. In addition to deploying the Operations and IT teams of the IPSS, Helen was assisted by a number of individuals during the organization and running of the conference. We would like to thank the following individuals for their support (in alphabetical order): Dawit Yohannes, Dereje Seyoum, Getachew Zeru, and Seble Mulugeta. We thank Ms. Judy Wall for her excellent language editing, making the papers easily readable. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the authors of the papers for bearing with us during the long editorial process as well as for their unreserved responses to our, sometimes hair-splitting, comments and corrections. We hope that their and our efforts have paid off and that you will find this book interesting, informative and useful in your future engagements. The Editors vi Table of Contents Preface ...................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments ...................................................................................