As reported in the China Peoples Online yesterday, China is ready to promote economic and trade cooperation with Angola, visiting senior leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) he said in Luanda Thursday. China encourages its enterprises to take part in Angola’s economic construction, as Angola has become China’s biggest trading partner in Africa, he said.
This is a reminder of the long term impact that China will continue to hold on the African continent – environmental, economic, political and social – and is a warning to the rest of the world that as long as China holds economic sway in the developing world, the population is at risk from China’s blind support to potential and actually dangerous regimes in all regions of the world.
Putting this in context of the general conditions facing citizens in Angola, note the summary statement from the U.S. State Department’s 2007 Human Rights Report for Angola:
The government’s human rights record remained poor, and there were numerous, serious problems. Human rights abuses included: the abridgement of citizens’ right to elect officials at all levels; unlawful killings by police, military, and private security forces; security force torture, beatings, and rape; harsh prison conditions; official corruption and impunity; arbitrary arrest and detention; judicial inefficiency and lack of independence; lengthy pretrial detention; lack of due process; restrictions on freedom of speech, press, and assembly; forced evictions without compensation; and discrimination, violence, and abuse against women and children.
Angola’s resources include petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, feldspar, bauxite, uranium, gold, cement, fish processing, food processing, brewing, tobacco products, sugar; textiles and ship repair. China will continue to exploit these resources to fuel its economy while recklessly financing reprehensible human rights abuse.
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