Last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton alleged that China's cooperation with Africa did not measure up to international standards, and even warned African countries to guard against "neocolonialism".

What is neocolonialism? Neocolonialism is a term used by post-colonial critics of developed countries' involvement in the developing world. Usually, it has been defined as the continuation of the economic model of colonialism after a colonized territory has achieved formal political independence. Although Clinton did not refer to China by name, it is widely believed that she was hinting at China when she mentioned "neocolonialism". But does the US have the moral authority to criticize Chinese behavior as neocolonialist? Who is really exercising neocolonialism in the post-colonial period?

As we know, in the late 19th century European countries had colonized most of the continent, instituting a system of economic exploitation where African raw materials, particularly cash crops and minerals, were expropriated and exported for the sole benefit of the colonizing power. However, after independence, the main revenue base for African countries continued to be the export of raw materials, and this resulted in the underdevelopment of African economies while Western industries thrived.

Clinton also asserted that China's approach to governance and economic development was not a model that African nations should follow. But is the economic model that the West, including the United States, forced upon Africa any better? In the 1960s, the production of cocoa increased rapidly in many African countries, but the resulting overproduction led to a plunge in the price of cocoa worldwide. So, it is clear that economies based on the production of cash crops such as cocoa are not conducive to sustainable development because the current world economic system, devised mainly by the leading Western countries, imposes a veritable ceiling on the revenue that can be accrued from production. Similarly, the extraction and export of minerals will not serve to develop African economies, because minerals taken from the African soil by Western-owned corporations are shipped to Europe or the United States. Once there, they are turned into manufactured goods, which are then resold to African consumers at much higher prices.

Another method of neocolonialism is foreign aid. After their economies were unable to develop after independence, many African countries were led to elicit aid in the form of loans. It is believed that accepting loans from the West only serves to perpetuate the dependency of independent African states on exploitative loan givers from the West. It is also noted that most foreign aid comes with high interest rates. Therefore, the repayment of these loans contributes to the underdevelopment of African economies because the accumulation of interest ultimately impoverishes African people, leaving them with fewer resources for entrepreneurship and business start-ups. What's more, almost all Western aid for African countries has political strings attached to it, usually to meet certain standards of Western-style "democracy" or "good governance". Are these conditions really serving the best interest of Africa, as Clinton implied in her rejection of Chinese policy?

It's clear that, apart from the West's exploitative economic influence, African countries are also politically victimized. Their concern that the West will return to gunboat diplomacy appears to have been borne out by recent developments in Libya, which is being bombed by NATO to further the West's political agenda in this volatile yet resource-rich region.

In contrast, China does not use its economic or political leverage to force any African states to do its bidding or to follow the Chinese model. Its cooperative ventures with African states are based on equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit. Such a fair and even-handed approach has allowed China to make significant inroads into Africa's economic, social and political fabric without creating the damaging fallout incurred by the West.

So who are the real neocolonialists that Africa should guard against? The answer is clear.

The author is the former secretary for home affairs of the Hong Kong SAR government.

(HK Edition 06/22/2011 page3)