[Annotated] China goes to Africa

In big ways and small, China is making its presence felt^[각주:1] across the continent

IN CRISP^[각주:2] white uniforms and standing to attention^[각주:3] beneath a fluttering^[각주:4] red flag with five golden stars, the sailors on board the People’s Liberation Army^[각주:5] ships setting sail for^[각주:6] Djibouti on July 11th represent a significant step for China. When they arrive they will open the Middle Kingdom^[각주:7]’s first military base abroad since the Korean war.

It is a canny^[각주:8] first foray^[각주:9]. China has prepared the ground^[각주:10] with low-key^[각주:11] deployments of^[각주:12] blue-helmeted troops to UN operations^[각주:13] in places such as South Sudan. And it has placed the base in a country that is likely to cause the least offence^[각주:14].

America already has a large airfield^[각주:15] and naval station in^[각주:16] Djibouti. From there it conducts counter-terrorism operations^[각주:17], and watches the Gulf of Aden^[각주:18] and the Red Sea^[각주:19], both much used by smugglers^[각주:20] trafficking drugs, weapons and people^[각주:21]. And China’s main regional^[각주:22] rival, India, cannot argue that the installation^[각주:23] represents a significant projection of power into^[각주:24] an ocean it regards as its own. The base will mostly be a logistics hub^[각주:25] for a naval squadron^[각주:26] China has long sailed in these waters, escorting commercial vessels. Still, the hoisting of^[각주:27] a red flag over African soil will be the most visible sign yet of China’s growing assertiveness on^[각주:28] a continent that was once the playground of Soviet and Western powers.

The base represents but the tip of a fast-growing^[각주:29] bamboo shoot^[각주:30]. The next segment down is a vast^[각주:31] effort aimed at enhancing China’s soft power in^[각주:32] Africa and at promoting the so-called “China model” of authoritarian^[각주:33], state-driven development as a counter to^[각주:34] Western efforts to spread liberal democratic capitalism. Much of this is done through political training programmes whereby^[각주:35] members of ruling parties, labour unions and ministries are taken to^[각주:36] China to meet the members of the Chinese Communist Party. Its best student is Ethiopia, where the ruling EPRDF party^[각주:37] has copied much of what it has seen in China, tightly controlling business and investment, and imitating China’s Central Party School^[각주:38] and party cadre^[각주:39] system.

China’s attempts at spreading its view of the world go far beyond Ethiopia, albeit with^[각주:40] varying degrees of^[각주:41] success. In South Africa, for instance, more than half of the members of the executive committee of^[각주:42] the ruling African National Congress^[각주:43] have attended such schools in China, a country the party calls its “guiding^[각주:44] lodestar^[각주:45]”.

China is, like the West, strategic about the ways in which it doles out aid^[각주:46]. A study by AidData, a project based at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, found that countries that vote with China in the UN General Assembly^[각주:47] get considerably^[각주:48] more money than those that do not.

China has also spread its influence in less visible ways. Victoria Breeze and Nathan Moore at Michigan State University reckon that^[각주:49] in 2014 the number of African students in China surpassed^[각주:50] the number studying in either Britain or America, the traditional destinations for English-speakers^[각주:51] (France still beats all three, however)^[각주:52]. Much of the growth is because China has given tens of thousands of scholarships to^[각주:53] African students, the academics say. If efforts such as these are aimed at burnishing^[각주:54] China’s image, then they are working. Afrobarometer, a polling firm, found that 63% of people in 36 African countries consider China to be a positive influence. Nevertheless^[각주:55], it also found that African people still think China’s development model ranks second after^[각주:56] America’s.

That may change in time^[각주:57], since by far^[각주:58] the main part of China’s involvement in Africa is in business. In the past decade, Chinese loans^[각주:59] and contractors^[각주:60] have, quite literally, reshaped^[각주:61] much of the continent’s infrastructure, paying for and building new ports, roads and railways. In many cases, this has been matched by investments in mines and manufacturing plants, shopping centers and corner stores^[각주:62]. The scale^[각주:63] and extent of^[각주:64] China’s business interests^[각주:65] are easily visible, whether in a hotel in Rwanda, where the writing on^[각주:66] all the fittings^[각주:67], from elevators to shampoo dispensers^[각주:68], is Chinese; or at a roundabout^[각주:69] in central Accra^[각주:70], where a crew of Chinese laborers are repairing the road^[각주:71].

This flow of Chinese money and workers has prompted^[각주:72] some to gush that^[각주:73] China is becoming Africa’s most important economic partner, and others to fret that^[각주:74] it is the new colonial^[각주:75] master. In a recent report McKinsey, a consulting firm, looked at five measures^[각주:76] of Africa’s economic connection with the world: trade, investment stock, investment growth, infrastructure financing^[각주:77] and aid^[각주:78]. It found that China is among the top four partners in each of these. “No other country matches this depth and breadth of^[각주:79] engagement^[각주:80],” it enthused^[각주:81].

Yet others are more sceptical^[각주:82], arguing that many overestimate^[각주:83] the sums that China is investing in or lending to^[각주:84] Africa, because they add up^[각주:85] pledges^[각주:86] rather than actual flows. A close parsing of the data^[각주:87] by David Dollar, an economist, finds that China accounts for only about 5% of all existing investment in Africa, and a similar share of new investments. America’s investment stock is twice as much.

“The notion that China has provided an overwhelming amount of finance and is buying up^[각주:88] the whole continent is inaccurate,” he argues. That matches with^[각주:89] work by Deborah Brautigam, who leads the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University. She found that little more than half of^[각주:90] announced Chinese loans to Africa actually materialized^[각주:91].

Yet look beyond^[각주:92] official loans or the work of big Chinese state-owned companies, and there are signs of a deeper Chinese involvement. McKinsey’s work suggests that there are as many as 10,000 Chinese companies operating in Africa, 90% of them privately owned. Many also reported earning juicy returns^[각주:93], in some cases enough to pay back their investments in less than a year^[각주:94]. Many said they planned to keep investing because of the plentiful^[각주:95] opportunities to make money.

Yet even as^[각주:96] those small firms make money, it is far less certain that Chinese investments in big infrastructure such as the railway line linking Mombasa’s port and Nairobi in Kenya will ever show a return; there is even less chance of recovering the cash^[각주:97] sunk by^[각주:98] Chinese state-owned firms into poorly governed places^[각주:99] such as Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In this China seems to be repeating many of the mistakes made by Western donors and investors in the 1970s, when money flowed into^[각주:100] big African infrastructure projects that never produced the expected economic gains. In a decade or so^[각주:101] China may find itself in the position the West once did^[각주:102], of having to write off^[각주:103] many of their loans to African governments. Unless of course those sleek^[각주:104] navy ships in Djibouti are ever put to use collecting overdue debts^[각주:105].

1. make one's presence felt ; 자기의 중요성[존재]을 알리다, 강력한 인상을 주다 [본문으로]
2. crisp ; 3. (종이나 천이) (새 것이라서 주름 하나 없이) 빳빳한 [본문으로]
3. stand to attention (영국식) = stand at attention = stand at the position of attention ; 차려 자세로 있다, 부동 자세를 취하다. [본문으로]
4. flutter ; 1. (빠르고 가볍게) 흔들(리)다[펄럭이다/떨다] [본문으로]
5. People's Liberation Army ; [명사] (중국의) 인민 해방군(정규군의 공식 명칭; PLA). [본문으로]
6. set sail for ; [동사] …을 향해 출항하다. ;; 동의어 get under sail for, start a sea voyage. [본문으로]
7. the Middle Kingdom ; 2. (옛) 중국, 중화(中華) [본문으로]
8. canny ; [형용사] (특히 재계・정계에서) 약삭빠른[영리한] [본문으로]
9. foray ; 1. ~ (into sth) (다른 활동・직종에 들어가려는) 시도 [본문으로]
10. prepare the ground (for sth) ; (~을 위한) 토대를 마련해 주다 [본문으로]
11. low-key ; [형용사] (많은 이목을 끌지 않도록) 억제된[절제하는] [본문으로]
12. deployment ; [UC] 전개, 배치 [본문으로]
13. blue-helmet ; [명사] 유엔 휴전 감시 요원, UN 평화유지군 [본문으로]
14. offence ; 2. [U] 화나게 [불쾌하게]하는 행위, 모욕 ;; 동의어 ; offense [본문으로]
15. airfield ; [명사] (군용기・개인 비행기의) 이착륙장[비행장] [본문으로]
16. naval station ; 해군 보급 기지, 해군 기지, 군항 [본문으로]
17. counter-terrorism operation ; 대 테러 작전 [본문으로]
18. the Gulf of Aden ; (지리) 아덴 만 [본문으로]
19. the Red Sea ; 홍해 [본문으로]
20. smuggler ; [명사] 밀수범, 밀수업자 [본문으로]
21. drug trafficking ; 마약 밀매 ;; human trafficking ; 인신 매매 ;; trafficking을 동명사처럼 활용한것을 확인 [본문으로]
22. regional ; [형용사] (주로 명사 앞에 씀) 지방[지역]의 [본문으로]
23. installation ; 3. [C] (특수 장비를 보관・사용하는) 시설 [본문으로]
24. projection ; 1. ESTIMATE | [C] (현 상황을 근거로 한 규모・비용・양 등의) 예상[추정] [본문으로]
25. logistics hub ; 물류 중심지, 주요 병참 기지 [본문으로]
26. squadron ; [C+sing./pl. v.] 비행 중대; 소함대 [본문으로]
27. hoisting ; [명사] 끌어 올리기; 들어올려 나르기.;; hoist ; [타동사][VN + adv. / prep.] (흔히 밧줄이나 장비를 이용하여) 들어[끌어]올리다 [본문으로]
28. assertiveness ; [명사] 자기 주장 [본문으로]
29. fast-growing ; [형용사] 빨리 성장하는 [본문으로]
30. bamboo shoot ; [명사] (원예학) 죽순(竹荀) [본문으로]
31. vast ; [형용사] (범위・크기・양 등이) 어마어마한[방대한/막대한] ;; US [vӕst] UK [vɑ:st] [본문으로]
32. soft power ; [명사] 연성 권력(간접적이고 무형의 영향력을 행사하는 힘). [본문으로]
33. authoritarian ; [형용사] 권위주의적인, 독재적인 [본문으로]
34. counter ; 1. 역(逆)(의 것), 반대(되는 것) [본문으로]
35. whereby ; [부사] (격식) (그것에 의하여) …하는 [본문으로]
36. be taken to ; ~로 보내지다 [본문으로]
37. EPRDF ; 에티오피아 인민혁명민주전선(EPRDF): Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front [네이버 지식백과] 에티오피아의 주요 정당 (에티오피아 개황, 2011., 외교부) [본문으로]
38. Central Party School of the Communist Party of China ; (학교명) 중국공산당 중앙당교(中國共産黨中央黨校), 중공중앙당교 [본문으로]
39. cadre ; (격식) 1. [C+sing./pl. v.] 간부단, 핵심 그룹 ;; US [|kӕdri] UK [|kɑ:də(r)] [본문으로]
40. albeit ; [접속사] (격식) 비록 …일지라도 ;; US·UK [|ɔ:l|bi:ɪt] [본문으로]
41. varying degrees of ; 다양한, 서로 다른 [본문으로]
42. executive committee ; [명사] (단체·회사 등의) 집행, 실행 위원회. [본문으로]
43. African National Congress ; [the ~] 아프리카 민족 회의 ((남아공화국의 민족 운동 조직; 略 ANC)) [본문으로]
44. guiding ; [형용사] (명사 앞에만 씀) 인도[지도]하는 [본문으로]
45. lodestar ; 2. (격식) (행동) 지침[원칙];; 동의어 ; loadstar ;; US [|loʊdstɑ:(r)] UK [|ləʊdstɑ:(r)] [본문으로]
46. dole sth out (to sb) ; (~에게) ~을 조금씩 나눠 주다 [본문으로]
47. the UN General Assembly ; UN 총회 [본문으로]
48. considerably ; [부사] (격식) 많이, 상당히 [본문으로]
49. reckon ; 4. ~ sth (at sth) (양・수 등을) 계산[추산/추정]하다 [본문으로]
50. surpass ; [동사] (격식) 능가하다, 뛰어넘다 [본문으로]
51. English-speakers ; 흐름상 "에티오피아 내에서 영어를 잘하는 사람들" 정도의 의미 [본문으로]
52. 흐름상 영어를 구사할줄 아는 에티오피아인들이 프랑스로 아직은 더 많이 유학을 간다는 의미 [본문으로]
53. scholarship ; 1. [C] 장학금 [본문으로]
54. burnish ; [타동사][VN] (격식) (금속을) 윤[광]을 내다 ;; 흐름상 "중국에 대한 이미지쇄신을 하다" 정도의 의미 [본문으로]
55. nevertheless ; [부사] 그렇기는 하지만, 그럼에도 불구하고 [본문으로]
56. rank second ; "2위를 차지 했다" 라는 의미지만 흐름상 "미국에는 아직 미치지 못했다" 정도로 풀어내는것이 더 자연스러움 [본문으로]
57. in time ; 때가 도래하면 [본문으로]
58. by far ; (비교급·최상급 형용사·부사와 함께 쓰여) 훨씬; 단연코 [본문으로]
59. loan ; 1. [C] 대출[융자](금) [본문으로]
60. contractor ; [명사] 계약자, 도급업자, 하청업자 [본문으로]
61. reshape ; [타동사][VN] 모양[구조]을 고치다, 개장[개조]하다 [본문으로]
62. corner store ; (英) (동네) 구멍가게 ;; corner shop [본문으로]
63. scale ; 1. SIZE | [sing., U] ~ (of sth) (특히 다른 것과 비교해서 본) 규모[범위] ;; 참고 full-scale, large-scale, small-scale [본문으로]
64. extent ; [sing., U] 1. (크기・중요성・심각성 등의) 정도[규모] [본문으로]
65. business interests ; 사업 관계자, 상업계 [본문으로]
66. writing ; 5. [U] (손으로 쓰거나 인쇄된) 글자[글씨] [본문으로]
67. fitting ; 2. [주로 복수로] (英) 반고정 세간(보통 제자리에 고정시켜 놓고 쓰지만 붙박이는 아니어서 이사 갈 때 가지고 갈 수 있는 가스레인지, 전등, 선반 같은 것들) ;; 참고 fixture [본문으로]
68. dispenser ; [명사] (손잡이・단추 등을 눌러 안에 든 것을 바로 뽑아 쓸수 있는) 기계[용기] ;; 참고 cash dispenser [본문으로]
69. roundabout ; (英), (참고: swing n.) 1. (美 |traffic circle , ro・tary) 로터리 ;; 참고 mini-roundabout [본문으로]
70. Accra ; [명사] 아크라 ((Ghana의 수도)) ;; US·UK [ǽkrə,əkrɑ́:] [본문으로]
71. repair ; [vn] 1. 수리[보수/수선]하다 [본문으로]
72. prompt ; 1. (사람에게 어떤 결정을 내리도록・어떤 일이 일어나도록) 하다[촉발하다] [본문으로]
73. gush ; 3. (못마땅함) (칭찬・감정을 별로 진실성 없이) 마구 쏟아 내다[표현하다] [본문으로]
74. fret ; [동사] -tt- ~ (about/over sth) (특히 英) 조바심치다, 조마조마하다 [본문으로]
75. colonial ; [형용사] 1. 식민(지)의 참고 colony [본문으로]
76. measure ; 4. WAY OF SHOWING/JUDGING | [C] (판단・측정의) 척도[기준] [본문으로]
77. financing ; [명사] 자금 조달, 융자, 조달 자금 [본문으로]
78. aid ; 1. [U] 원조, 지원 ;; 참고 financial aid, legal aid [본문으로]
79. breadth ; [U , C], (참고: length) 1. 폭, 너비 ;; 참고 length [본문으로]
80. engagement ; 4. BEING INVOLVED | [U] ~ (with sb/sth) (격식) 관계함, 참여 [본문으로]
81. enthuse ; 1. ~ (about/over sth/sb) 열변을 토하다, 열광해서 말하다 [본문으로]
82. sceptical ; [형용사] ~ (about/of sth) 회의적인 [본문으로]
83. overestimate ; [타동사][VN] 과대평가하다 [본문으로]
84. lending ; [U] (금융) 대출, 대부 [본문으로]
85. add up ; 합산하다 ;; 동의어 add something up [본문으로]
86. pledge ; 1. ~ (to do sth) (굳은) 약속, 맹세, 서약 2. 저당[담보](금) [본문으로]
87. parse the data ; 데이타 (구문) 분석을 하다 [본문으로]
88. buy up ; ~을 다[살 수 있는 대로] 사다, 매수하여 장악하다; 매점[매절]하다. ;; 동의어 ; buy out; buy all the goods. [본문으로]
89. match with ; …와 짝을 맞추다, 어울리는 것을 찾다(=find the equivalent of). [본문으로]
90. little more than ; …와 마찬가지, …에 지나지 않는 [본문으로]
91. materialize ; [v] 1. [보통 부정문에 쓰여] (예상・계획대로) 구체화되다[실현되다] ;; 흐름상 "중국 자본이 아프리카에 실질적으로 투자되었다" 정도의 의미로 보임 [본문으로]
92. look beyond ; …의 앞쪽[건너편]을 보다; …을 예견하다, 마음속에 그리다, ~을 넘어서 생각하다, 바라보다 [본문으로]
93. return ; 5. PROFIT | [U , C] 수익 [본문으로]
94. pay back ; 흐름상 "투자금을 회수하다" 정도의 의미 [본문으로]
95. plentiful ; [형용사] (또한 plent・eous) 풍부한 [본문으로]
96. even as ; …하는 바로 그 순간에 [본문으로]
97. recover ; 3. MONEY | [타동사][VN] ~ sth (from sb/sth) (손실 등을) 되찾다[만회하다] [본문으로]
98. the cash sunk by ; 흐름상 "~에 의해 과도하게 투자된 자본" 정도의 의미 ;; 8. DIG IN GROUND | [타동사][VN] (땅을 파서) 박다, 파묻다 ;; 참고 sunken [본문으로]
99. govern ; 1. (국가・국민을) 통치하다[다스리다] [본문으로]
100. flow into ; …로 흘러들다. [본문으로]
101. or so ; (수량을 나타내는 말 뒤에 쓰여) …가량[정도/쯤] [본문으로]
102. find oneself ; 3. (깨닫고 보니) …에 있다 [본문으로]
103. write off ; 1. (상업) (부채를) 탕감하다; ~을 실패한[무가치한] 것으로 보다[인식하다] [본문으로]
104. sleek ; (sleek・er , sleek・est) 1. (호감) (매끄럽고) 윤이 나는 2. (호감) (모양이) 매끈한[날렵한] [본문으로]
105. overdue debt ; [명사] 연체채무 [본문으로]