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Comment by comrade1 | Hacker News Reader

This has come up before on hn, but I always find it interesting how hard China is pushing into Africa economically: http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/2163955...

http://thediplomat.com/2015/01/china-embracing-africa-but-no...

http://qz.com/217597/how-a-million-chinese-migrants-are-buil...

(that third article is probably the most interesting)

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If you want to see Chinese Tang architecture, visit Japan.

If you want to see Chinese Ming architecture, visit Korea.

If you want to see Chinese Qing architecture, visit Beijing.

If you want to see contemporary Chinese architecture, visit Africa ;-)

You're right, the third article was very interesting. I'm tempted to buy the book just to learn more about this guy.

He comes across as a very ambitious guy and he seemingly has a plan (to use his children to get more "local" offspring)

They don't have the baggage of all the atrocities of the past, they aren't overtly racist on principle, and they have no qualms taking advantage or the situation and participating in the corruption and exploitation. How is that surprising?

While all you say is true, don't forget that by doing this China is slowly building itself a reputation for UN votes. A major goal is to enter the permanent council and/or preventing Japan from having one.

China is already a member of the permanent council.

since 1971

Yup. From the very beginning. Remember, the UN is a product of WWII. All the winners got a seat at the table.

That is incorrect. The word 'China' after WWII referred to what is now called Taiwan. Nixon eventually normalized relations with mainland China and arranged for Taiwan's seat to be swapped for the mainland Chinese.

That is incorrect. The PRC (People's Republic of China) came into being in 1949. The UN was founded in 1945. That's a 4 year difference. At the time, there was only one China and the government that signed the treaty was the same as the one that was eventually exiled into Taiwan.

You're assuming the ROC actually controlled mainland China in its entirety. The only reason it took so long for them to be forced out was the Japanese starting the Pacific theatre of WWII. You can't really fight a civil war and expect to fight another empire at the same time.

The temporary halt to the power struggle over mainland China was just a self preservation tactic on the part of both parties.

"they aren't overtly racist on principle,"

Are you saying that because you have some sort of evidence of their highly egalitarian nature, or because "They aren't Americans/Western Europeans, therefore they can't possibly be racist."?

If it's the former, I've heard an awful lot of complaints from non-Han in China about racism, and I'd be curious how you reconcile that with your statement.

I suppose it implies they can be subtly racist.

This is ignorant of both history and the present. Speaking as a three year resident of China they are a hell of a lot more racist than is common in the West. The only reason China doesn't have atrocity baggage in Africa is that they didn't have the opportunity. The Qing were all about genocide when it was useful. I'd say ask the Oirat or the Dzhungars except these groups no longer exist.

American businesses exploit Americans. Do you really think they would have qualms about exploiting Africans?

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