Soros: China, Africa and the Global Economy

In a wide-ranging series of lectures Open Society Institute chairman and founder George Soros has been trying to place the global financial crisis in some larger context. In one recent speech he said:

And China needs to become a more open society in order to be acceptable to the rest of the world. The rest of the world will never subordinate the freedom of the individual to the prosperity of the Chinese state. As China is becoming a world leader, it must learn to pay more attention to the opinion of the rest of the world. But all this may be happening too fast for the Chinese leadership to adjust to it. China is too accustomed to thinking of itself as the victim of imperialism to realize that it is beginning to occupy an imperialistic position. That is why it has such difficulties in dealing with Africa and its own ethnic minorities. Hopefully, the Chinese leadership will rise to the occasion.  It is no exaggeration to say that the future of the world depends on it.

I agree with this assessment. And I worry in particular about China’s work in Africa because of the twin pillars of the potential for neocolonialism and the utter lack of concern for human rights in China’s engagements with the rest of the world. But I also am optimistic that unlike the colonial era, which gave Africans virtually no options, and the Cold War, where clientelism gave only a few more choices, the new era will at least offer Africans opportunities and thus choice. To compete with the Chinese, the Brazilians and Americans and Europeans will have to offer something to Africans. While I fear that such competition might lead to  a race to the bottom as each tries to undercut the other while ordinary Africans reap few benefits, I hope that competition really does allowAfricans the freedom and flexibility to steer their own course, and not one determined by those writing checks.