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Regional secretary with the National Education Union
Does China have a neocolonial relationship with Africa?
Establishment politicians have a vested interest in portraying China as neocolonialist – to divert attention from their own imperialism and promote disunity and mistrust within the global South, says CARLOS MARTINEZ

IN RECENT years there has been a seemingly endless stream of complaints about Chinese imperialism in Africa. 

Western journalists and politicians tell us that China has become a new colonial power; that China is attempting to dominate African land and resources; that Africa is becoming entangled in a Beijing-devised debt trap; that Chinese investment in Africa only benefits China.

Establishment politicians enthusiastically embrace the idea of China as a neocolonial power, for the obvious reasons that it diverts attention from their own imperialism and helps promote disunity and mistrust within the global South. 

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