China Voice: China plays more responsible role in Africa

There seems to be a bizarre belief held by some western critics that it is easy and politically correct to blame China for every problem plaguing Africa.

The recent blame that China's economic slowdown is somehow stalling the fledgling African economy is the latest example of this farcical thinking.

Some critics said that the economic pinch felt by middle-income African countries with significant commodity exports were the result of China's cooling demand for commodities.

Western countries have been colonizing the resource-rich continent since the "Scramble for Africa" in the late 1880s.

The root of the continent's desperate dependence on a single export, such as the case in Zambia and Angola, is the colonial and neo-colonial rule of the West.

Economic policies were carefully constructed to prevent Africa from diversifying its economy so colonial powers could guarantee a source of raw materials and enact economic control.

Following colonization, the West's unreasonable investment structure in Africa deprived the continent of real economic independence. From the oil fields in Nigeria and Angola to the vast land in Sudan and Ethiopia, thousands of Western multinational corporations have seized a majority of the natural resources.

Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, has been under the drill of Western oil companies for decades, but still has no oil production and processing infrastructure. Nigerians are forced to export oil and import petroleum.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping announced 10 major plans in the next three years to boost cooperation between China and Africa and pledged to provide a 60 billion U.S. dollar finance package last week, China showed its sincerity to help countries on this continent. Endi