In a report by Global Order, the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) is trying to block India’s access to resources and assets in the African Continent by increasing its focus on private security companies
This new strategy of China involves an aggressive approach of employing Private Security Companies (PSC) to mitigate the risks for Chinese Nationals in Africa. These companies are armed with state-of-the-art weapon systems and advanced surveillance technologies.
In the month of March 2023, nine Chinese nationals were killed in the Central African Republic, and the head of the CCP, Xi Jinping, called for punishment of the perpetrators. Similarly, in April 2023, Beijing warned Islamabad that future attacks on Chinese nationals in Pakistan working for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would adversely impact their all-weather friendship.
Concerning these two tragic events, Beijing believes that the lives of Chinese Nationals abroad are unsafe. Hence, it is finding a solution to this problem and thus devised a subtly aggressive idea: the use of private security companies.
The use of these private security companies will allow Beijing to protect its projects and nationals abroad and exercise plausible deniability as it continues to expand the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
Keeping in mind the allegations placed by the world on its BRI, which include debt trap and human rights violations, the use of the PSC demands greater scrutiny. According to the Global Order, New Delhi must exercise vigilance and caution against the use of the PSC by Beijing.
The Global Order also cited a report by Sergey Sukahanin from Jamestown Foundation, which dates the history of the Chinese use of PSC to the Biajou culture (security and armed escort) during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. It also highlighted that “these entities were primarily involved in services associated with providing security and armed escorts to traders, merchants, and ensuring the safety of goods as well as property.”
Under Mao Zedong’s market reforms of 1984, the PSC re-emerged under the auspices of the Public Security Bureau, Sukahanin notes. Another study cited by the Global Order, the Mercator Institute of China Studies, has put the number of Chinese PSCs operating domestically at 7000 and PSCs operating abroad at 20 with a staff of 3200 men.
This data highlights and shows the strong importance that the Chinese Communist Party attaches to the use of the PSCs. “The United States has long employed such groups like Blackwater (Academi) and protect its nationals, embassy workforce and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) deployments across the globe,” Global Order said, citing that the use of PSC is not a new concept.
If one looks at Chinese intentions in employing the PSC in Africa, 2023, the total investment in Africa stands at 155 billion USD. The majority of the investment goes to the infrastructure sector. Beijing knows that with such a huge sum of money and the project’s magnitude, risks will be there. The risks include terrorism, ethnic strife and separatism.
To mitigate these risks, China is using PSVC as an obvious choice, especially when the PRC has a booming market for the same for decades. Touting the BRI as a Marshall Plan with Chinese characteristics and establishing a world order with the PRC and Xi Jinping together recognises the potential that the PSC can provide.
It also provides deniability for the domestic audience, geopolitical purposes, and legal navigational constraints. The PSC allow a nation to project power in the most subtle yet aggressive way.
The PSCs are armed with sophisticated, advanced weaponry along with high-tech surveillance. This enables them to conduct surveillance in a foreign land. They also are used for training drills and workshops, especially in the case of Afghanistan.
The PSC manages to create intricate networks in the host country, including the ruling elite and other powerful individuals and groups. Even if they are not working illegally, the sheer numbers and size of the network provide a massive advantage to them.
The CCP believes in the motto “The Party controls the Gun.” Moreover, the party exercises control over any domestic and international Chinese entity. The PSCs expand their presence in Africa, one can imagine the advantage Beijing has in the region and the huge leverage that it can utilise as a result of the same.
It can pressurise nations in Africa that are caught by the debt traps. According to retired Naval Admiral William Falon, it can affect domestic policy changes in the host nations, which are more advantageous to Beijing.
Falon, who also served as the Head of the US Central Command, admitted that the FSG work at first was restricted only to logistics. He began to worry when he found out that Prince had directed two of the money crop-dusters-small planes that the FSG (Frontier Service Group) rented to the governments so they would keep watch on troubled spots.
The planes could be modified so that they can carry rockets, missiles and Hellfire Missiles. The modified planes were intended to use by the government of Azerbaijan against the Armenians over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. It is an effective tactic by China in grey zone operations that have far-reaching consequences for all stakeholders- the African nations, China, India and the US.
India shares deep historical and civilisational links with Africa that have served as a solid foundation for the relations to develop further in the 21st century, such as South-South Cooperation. As of 2022, India’s bilateral trade with Africa reached 89.5 billion, with New Delhi Becoming the fourth largest trading partner with India.
Subramaniam Jaishankar of the MEA (India) also stressed in an address in 2022 about the triad of health, growth and digital technology as being the focus areas of the India-Africa partnership. India had championed medical assistance of 5 million USD to 25 African nations along with 39.65 million doses of the Made in India Covid Vaccines to 42 African countries.
With such a strong relationship with the African continent that is bound to expand in the coming years, both in terms of geo-economics and geopolitical considerations, it is extremely important for India to watch the Chinese PSC in Africa.
It is arguable that Chinese PSC has the capability to effectively block India’s access to the resources and projects in Africa, Beijing has a competitive advantage over New Delhi in this field. Closer Chinese relationships with the ruling elite, stronger diplomatic ties, and preferential treatment can be detrimental to Indian interests in Africa.
The Chinese PSC operating in Africa raises serious security concerns for the Indian nationals working there and can thus hinder the implementation by New Delhi, Global Order said. To navigate these challenges and thus mitigate the impact of Chinese PSC on India’s Activities in Africa, that will help differentiate its approach and foster stronger relations with African nations.
At the same time, the diplomatic engagements in New Delhi should make sure that the nationals working there are protected there at all times. However, India has a notable advantage that will lead to a win-win situation for both Africa and India, and that is the level of trust and goodwill compared to that of China, Global Order said.
