Reportage on the threat of the new ‘imperialist China’ has spread to the UK, where the Pub Philsopher sees China’s moves into the Sudan and Zimbabwe (first link in item) as a new attempt to colonize Africa.:

At last,  someone writing in a British newspaper has mentioned China’s imperialist ventures in Africa.  Niall Ferguson,  in the Sunday Telegraph (you need to register but it’s free),  said:

Already, China is
making its presence felt both economically and strategically in - guess
where? - Africa. While Western journalists have been wringing their
hands impotently about the genocide being perpetrated in Darfur, the
Chinese government has done a deal with the Sudanese government to
exploit that country’s oilfields. That says it all. While we indulge
our Victorian urge to give alms to the Africans, Beijing is pumping
black gold.

I’m not a overt hawk on China. Its moves into Africa are nothing more than a resource grab and are ’strategically’ no more a threat to the west than any other investment. They are also no more imperialist than any foreign investment by any country anywhere.
Still, the CPC’s collaboration with Mugabe, the genocidal regime in Sudan and similar moves in Uzbekistan do nothing for the CPC’s attempts at making itself appear a responsible member of the international community. My worry is not that rogue states are falling under Beijing’s sphere of influence. It is the converse.
What we have is a permanent Security Council member that is quickly becoming more and more beholden to the demands of an array of third-world despots, each of whom are even more  tyrannical than the CPC.