中國水電(Sinohydro)董事會祕書:我們不是殖民者

“Do we look like colonists? We haven’t killed any locals.” The remarks by Wang Zhiping, board secretary of Sinohydro, highlight the debate about China’s role in Africa, writes Leslie Hook.

中國水電(Sinohydro)董事會祕書王志平表示：“我們看上去像殖民者嗎？我們沒有殺害任何一個當地人。”這番言論突顯出圍繞中國在非洲的角色的爭論。

“We use our actions and the things we do to show we are not neocolonialists,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times.

他在接受英國《金融時報》採訪時說：“我們用我們的行動和我們所做的事來證明，我們不是新殖民主義者。”

Xi Jinping, Chinese president, during his first trip overseas as head of state last month, countered a rising tide of criticism among officials in Africa about China’s role there.

上月，中國國家主席習近平在作爲國家元首的首次出訪期間，爲中國在非洲扮演的角色進行了辯護，回擊了非洲官員日益高漲的批評聲音。

Mr Wang defended Sinohydro’s work in Africa, where it has been involved in more than 70 hydro-power projects, as beneficial for all parties. “A dam is a sign of social progress and civilisation,” he said. “You have resources. I have money, technology and management. We can develop together.”

王志平辯稱，中國水電在非洲參與的70多個水電項目讓各方受益。他說：“大壩是社會進步和文明的象徵。你們有資源，我們有資金、技術和管理。我們可以共同發展。”

Sinohydro and other engineering companies have been at the centre of Chinese policies in Africa, where they have built highways, high-rises, dams and football stadiums. On his visit to three African countries, Mr Xi vowed to increase investment, highlighting the importance of Africa to China’s foreign policy strategy.

中國水電等工程公司一直處於中國對非洲政策的核心位置，他們在非洲建設了高速公路、高樓大廈、大壩和足球場。在訪問非洲三國期間，習近平承諾要加大投資，並強調了非洲對中國外交政策戰略的重要性。

The role of Chinese state-owned enterprises in Africa has been controversial at times, because their projects are often funded bygovernment loans that the recipient nation repays with exports of resources.

中國國有企業在非洲的角色時不時地會引起爭議，因爲他們的項目往往獲得政府貸款支持，而接受國則是用資源出口來償還這些貸款。

Proponents say these infrastructure projects enable development in places where western companies are unwilling to work because of political risk or sanctions. Critics say they place overly heavy loan burdens on the recipient countries and have a poor record of compliance with local environmental and labour rules. Many such projects rely on workers flown in from China.

支持者認爲，這些基礎設施項目促進了非洲的發展，而西方企業出於政治風險或者制裁的考慮往往不願這麼做。批評者表示，他們給接受國帶來了過於沉重的貸款負擔，而且沒有很好地遵守本地環境和勞動法規。很多此類項目都依靠來自中國的工人。

The International Monetary Fund intervened in China’s $9bn aid package to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2008 to force a rewrite of the debt terms because the loans were deemed too expensive. Sinohydro and China Railway Engineering received a majority stake in two large copper and cobalt mines as part of the deal.

2008年，國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)介入中國對剛果民主共和國總額爲90億美元的援助項目，要求中國重新制定債務條款，原因是它們認爲這些貸款代價過高。作爲協議的一部分，中國水電和中國中鐵(China Railway Engineering)獲得了兩座大型銅鈷礦的多數股權。

Other high-profile projects by Chinese companies in Africa, such as the Merowe dam in Sudan, have been heavily criticised by environmental groups.

中國公司在非洲的其他引人注目的項目，比如蘇丹的麥洛維大壩(Merowe dam)，受到了環保組織的強烈批評。

Mr Wang said Sinohydro paid close attention to its environmental rules, and denied that it selected projects to further China’s foreign policy aims.

王志平表示，中國水電密切關注非洲環境法規，並否認公司選擇項目以拓展中國外交政策目標。

“The reason we are going abroad is just to make money,” he said. “In this process, we will protect the environment, assume social responsibilities, help development and help alleviate local poverty.”

他說：“我們進軍海外只是爲了賺錢。在這個過程中，我們將保護環境、承擔社會責任、促進發展並緩解當地的貧困狀況。”