China's Quest for The Next Empire

An article by Howard French in the Atlantic magazine (http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/05/the-next-empire/8018/) discusses how Chinese companies are signing deals that involve oil production in Africa. Since the turn of the millennium, Chinese companies have muscled in on lucrative oil markets in places like Angola, Nigeria, Algeria, and Sudan.

French claims that to fully grasp China’s economic approach in Africa, one must study European imperial history—as Beijing itself has been doing. "If you look at Chinese policy documents, it is very obvious that they are focused on opening up the heart of the continent. There is clearly a long-term strategy for doing this, and it seeks to break up the north-south flow of minerals, to build east-west lines that will allow them to bypass South Africa.”