Mistaking resource dependency as strength

WSJ piece on China stepping up global mining buys.

When we’re talking acquisitions that link China to Australia, Canada and Brazil, I see only win-wins for everybody—the global demand center getting deeply in bed with extant global players.

But lots of Chinese investment on this score see it moving into Africa, a trend we tend to assume plays only to China’s advantage—like taking a lot of responsibility for African stability will only be a good thing for China when it was never the case for the West in the past.  Yes, by bringing in Western firms, China spreads the risk a tad bit, but eventually, when things go bad in certain places, it’s unrealistic to think the West will pony up the requisite security to save China’s bacon just because Western firms are involved.

So go easy on the widespread assumption that China merely gains influence and no responsibility on this path, because that is strategic naïveté of the worst order.