CHINA’S EXPANSIONISM BEYOND ASIA: THE QUEST FOR NATURAL RESOURCES AND MARKETS IN AFRICA. THE CASE OF CAMEROON

Abstract

The end of the wars and the cold war signaled a new dimension and the birth of new and secondary actors in the international scene. China is one such newcomer in the lamp-light in 21st Century whose relations with the African Continent have grown by leaps and bounds. Chinese Foreign Policy blueprints are enforced by mutual cooperation among developing states beyond Asia, and its emerging superpower status is on the rise. The Beijing Declaration in the year 2000 was colossally accompanied by China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in the realm of economic and social development. The quest for raw materials, energy resources, and markets to feed the bourgeoning Chinese industries has pushed China into a mad rush in Africa and Cameroon in particular. This work investigates the reasons responsible for Chinese interest in Africa with special a focus on Cameroon. Also, it makes an appraisal of the socio-economic impact accruing from Sino-Cameroon ties, and lastly, the paper looks at the challenges China faces in Cameroon in keeping her economic interest buoyantly. The World System’s theory whose analysis centers on the relations between the core and periphery is utilized here. The deepening and asymmetric imbalances in this relation in favor of China have triggered debates within and without the continent in the academia and policymakers with some viewing China as a neocolonial state in disguise in line with other capitalist states since the “win-win” economic sermon preached by China is a farce with China gaining fatly.