China-Africa energy pact 'based on equality'

China's new energy partnership with several African states is based on equality and mutual benefit. Sounds harmless enough. The benevolent source that reported this news was China Daily. Another newspaper with a similarly pleasant report is the People's Daily. This latter article also quotes the Chinese premier as pointing that "China had never taken one inch of land on the continent in its long history with Africa." True enough. The article didn't mention who might have done such a thing, though.

China Daily does point out, in another article, a fact of which I was not aware: China upgraded its relationship with South Africa in 2004 to a "strategic parternship," which probably rightly raised some eyebrows elsewhere in the world. South Africa doesn't have the bomb anymore, of course, and they're strategic partners with the United States, but still. Interesting.

Oh, and the China Daily article that mentions the relationship shift has another gem of a headline: Sino-S. Africa ties benefit developing world. Great!

Please excuse my cynicism, sarcasm, etc.

And while we're on the subject, the BBC reports some other items about recent China-Africa news. China and Zimbabwe signed an energy deal (China wants chrome; will build power plants), but it's not as if Robert Mugabe and Hu Jintao are high-fiving at press conferences. China has ben playing it cool: the Zimbabwean VP came to Beijing to sign the deal.