China view of Africa democracy hits sensitivities

By Michael Georgy

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - An official Chinese newspaper's assertion on Monday that Kenyan political turmoil showed Africa was unsuited to Western democracy touched a raw nerve on the continent trying to overcome the legacies of colonialism and "big-man" rule.

While some acknowledged their governments had failed to deliver promised democracy after colonialism, others were offended at the suggestion that authoritarian rule was acceptable.

"It is wrong for China to make that conclusion (on Kenya) because democracy is not meant for certain kinds of people," said Blessings Chinsinga, lecturer at the University of Malawi.

"Democracy is a universal concept based on certain values but the problem is that us as Africans choose to ignore these values of democracy when its our responsibility to do so."

Kenya's feuding parties prepared on Monday for fresh fighting in parliament and on the streets despite another international push to mediate a post-election crisis that has now killed at least 612 people since the December 27 election the opposition says was rigged.

The crisis has dented Kenya's democratic credentials and rattled Western donors, who have made veiled statements that if the crisis is not solved it can no longer conduct "business as usual" with Kenya.

China, eager for Africa's vast natural resources to feed its exploding economy, has kept a low profile over the Kenyan violence.

But on Monday the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party, said Western powers were to blame for imposing colonial rule and then Western-style electoral democracy on Africa.