The lion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) opened its mouth and asked for $7 billion from China, but it was still not satisfied; is it because of the instigation of the United States behind the capriciousness of the small countries? How can China protect its interests when it invests overseas?
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is asking for $7 billion, and it is not satisfied?
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has spotted the weakness of China's urgently scarce copper and cobalt resources, and has taken advantage of loopholes in the "rules" to make China pay higher costs for copper and cobalt mining. Given that China has already invested a lot of money, manpower, and material resources in the country, it may have to make temporary compromises in order to avoid undoing its previous gains.
According to the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, his team has renegotiated the Huagang mining agreement with a Chinese consortium, which unsurprisingly brought in $7 billion in additional revenue for the DRC.
However, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is not satisfied with this and hopes that China will make further concessions.
For example, Emmanuel Umpura, executive director of the Congolese non-governmental organization "African Natural Resources Watch", strongly questioned the cooperation between China and the Congo, saying that he did not know how the negotiators arrived at the figure of 7 billion US dollars, and hoped to make public the reference conditions for the negotiations.
By the way, Emmanuel Umpu also threatened the Chinese side, saying that the $7 billion China provided to the DRC was not gratuitous, but an interest-bearing loan. He called for a reassessment of the value of China-operated mines and a halt to Huagang Mining's operations in the DRC as appropriate until Chinese investors begin infrastructure construction.
It should be noted that according to the mineral-for-infrastructure agreement, while mining key resources such as copper and cobalt, China must not only pay huge taxes to the DRC, but also help the DRC build roads, bridges, railways and other infrastructure.
As soon as China and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) upgraded their strategic partnership, the government of Felix Tshisekedi came to cross the river and tear down the bridge. The question now is how to ensure follow-up cooperation between China and the Democratic Republic of the Congo if it is not satisfied with extorting only $7 billion from China.
When China invests overseas, it needs to be careful of sabotage by the United States
Let me make three observations on this.
First, if the DRC brazenly tears up the contract, then China does not need to get used to the other side and must come up with all countermeasures.
Whether it's resorting to an international tribunal, ending an investment in the country, or setting up mercenaries like Wagner to do the dirty work for themselves, as long as they can wake up the other side, then all the effort is worth it. Don't think about getting along with small countries on an equal footing, because they value the military strength of the big countries more than their persuasion.
Second, the United States has played a "key" role in this, and the United States has brought huge risks to China-Congo cooperation.
If memory serves, in September 2022, during the US-Africa summit, Biden defined Africa as the "southern flank of NATO" for the first time, and appointed Carson to take full responsibility for engagement with major resource exporters such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the United States even promised to provide $55 billion in investment to partners.
The false promises of the United States produced a catalytic reaction, and the international community immediately discovered that those countries under the banner of "pro-China" shrank back and began to swing between China and the United States. The temptation of the cake of Rao is resources is too great, as long as someone fanned the flames next to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the latter will resolutely take the trap.
Third, blind defense is only an expedient measure, and China must consider the possibility that the United States will cut off China's resource supply chain.
Imagine that now is just an era of peace, and the DRC is planning to create trouble for China, and if Japan and China fight over the Taiwan issue, won't the DRC cut off China's right to operate in its own country. This possibility is very real, after all, the Biden administration has made harsh statements that it will freeze China's assets in the United States as appropriate.
The United States will never allow China to develop further and thus threaten its position as the world's hegemon. Given that Sino-US relations will only become more tense and even decoupled, China will have to find ways to directly engage the United States in some areas, and only by defeating the arrogance of the other side may effectively improve China's predicament in Africa.
It is unimaginable that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has received China's favor, but it has created problems for China. It makes us feel that some countries are not worthy of deep friendship, and the more you treat them, the more they will gain inches. Today China is asking for $7 billion, and tomorrow it may be asking China to spit out all the profits from the project.
In this way, how can China still operate its overseas mines with peace of mind?
Cooperation is based on equality and balance, but it is a pity that some countries are thinking about pitting partners. We ask rhetorically, if the DRC thinks the United States is reliable, why not let the United States help build its own infrastructure. It is also incredible, that Biden just moved his lips lightly to make China "run and break its legs" and pay a heavy price for China-Congo cooperation.
It can only be said that China still does not want to decouple from the United States, but many things have exceeded China's expectations, and perhaps China and the United States have reached the point of a showdown on the battlefield.