Infrastructures and metals: all the moves of China in Cambodia and Congo
China has built Cambodia's new airport, and numerous other infrastructures in Southeast Asia. The article by Giuseppe Gagliano
China continues to strengthen its infrastructural power projection in Cambodia, as evidenced by the fact that Cambodia's new Siem Reap airport is expected to be completed in March.
The Cambodian government hopes that the airport – which is located 50 km from the Angkor temple complex – can boost both the economy and tourism. The participation of the Chinese-Cambodian ambassador in the inauguration of the airport will naturally be taken for granted.
THE ROLE OF THE YUNNAN HOLDING IN CAMBODIA AND NOT ONLY
We must not forget that China, through the company Yunnan Construction and Investment Holding Group, which built the new Cambodian airport, has made a winning bet. The company has the possibility of benefiting from contracts that are directly financed by the Chinese state especially as regards Southeast Asia, as evidenced for example by the fact that the same company has built the port of Kyaupkyu, a highway between Vientiane and Vangvieng in Laos and special economic zones in the border regions.
But the Chinese company also received the contract for the construction of the Cambodian council of ministers building, which is located in Phnom Penh. The key man of this company is of course the CEO Chen Zujun.
THE PROJECT IN CONGO
But China's hegemonic aims know no geographical borders, as demonstrated by the recent joint venture signed between China and a Canadian company for the export of copper from the Congo.
All this should come as no surprise if we think, for example, of the fact that the Congolese army has repeatedly sided in favor of Chinese mining interests, especially in the east of the country. Precisely in order to strengthen its presence in the Congo, China has militarily trained Congolese personnel and has given assistance to Chinese companies in the Congo in the security sector. Military assistance, in fact, is one of the tools that has allowed China to ensure a constant supply of minerals and therefore allows it to safeguard its interests.
CHINA SEEKS COPPER AND COBALT
However, there is an aspect of particular relevance linked to the violation of human rights in Congo: while European companies are reluctant to get involved in the Congo and above all in the extractive sector, this attitude of reluctance on the part of China and the mining companies is not present; this has allowed China to increase the extraction of resources such as cobalt and copper.
From 2015 to 2020, China's cobalt imports from the DRC increased by 191 percent, cobalt oxide imports by 2,920 percent, and copper ore imports by 1,670, according to data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC). percent.
In light of these data we must ask ourselves why it is so important for China to have access to these minerals. The answer is that they are critical to the energy transition: let's not forget that 50 percent of the cobalt produced globally today goes into rechargeable batteries, but this bluish-grey metal also plays a vital role in military equipment, including munitions, magnets, stealth technologies and jet engines.
70% of the world's cobalt is extracted from the Congo and 80% of the production that is made in the Congo then goes to China to be processed.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/cina-cambogia-aeroporto/ on Sun, 19 Feb 2023 07:03:40 +0000.