Beneath the Cover of China’s Rising Engagement in Africa: A Security Perspective

Abstract

With the soaring increase in demand for oil owing to its rapid economic growth and expansion, coupled with her quest to build a strong and formidable security system, China has no option than to ensure her energy security. For a country whose oil consumption has been increasing yearly, the need to secure sustainable and affordable energy supplies is imperative. China’s policy of self-reliance with regard to energy security is no longer feasible. The country’s growing dependence on the global energy supplies and oil-rich countries such as Russia and the West Asia region has become complex. For a country that hopes to achieve greater economic progress and secure maximum economic growth for its people, securing energy supplies is very crucial, especially when every great and progressing country’s ultimate interest is to secure a place in the international community. Using a historical comparative approach in analysing China's growing engagement in Africa, the paper suggests that China’s rising interest on the continent is a strategic move to have a more reliable and secure energy supply without interruptions. China is very much aware of the United States’ hegemonic control in West Asia and the Middle East. With regard to oil supply from Russia, the stakes are high factoring in scepticism since it is only a tactical arrangement. China has, therefore, turned to Africa, especially in the oil producing countries like Angola and Sudan in hopes of balancing the security danger and threat it faces in its energy security domain.