Getting the Story Straight

　　Questions around China’s involvement inAfrica arise in almost all spheres of debates or discussionsin Europe and the United States， be it in the media，academia or other areas. There is hardly any positivecoverage of the nature of China-Africa relations acrossdifferent sectors of engagements： economic cooperation(trade and investment)， development cooperation (developmentassistance)， education or labor. Naturally， somechallenges exist in all of the continent’s engagements withthe world. Yet， before China’s growing presence in Africa，did developed countries involved in Africa try to comprehensivelyassess the results of their engagements on theAfrican continent？ Neither Europe nor the United Stateshad perfect engagements. In fact， their engagements inAfrica probably have more negative than positive aspects.

　　China’s presence in Africa is a hot topic in otherregions of the world. But why so much concern and attimes negativity from the outside concerning China-Africarelations？ A country-to-country case analysis of China’sengagement with the rest of the world and particularlywith developed countries gives a more realistic and trueimage of China’s intentions. Africa is far from unique withregards to being a recipient of Chinese engagement.

　　China’s presence is obvious in Europe， the United States，Canada and Australia， where multi-national Chinesecompanies， banks， financial institutions’ headquarters andsubsidiaries are widespread. China invests more in Europe，the United States and Australia than it does in Africa.

　　“Teaching” Africa is hypocritical

　　Take U.S. trade for instance， it depends heavily onChina. Germany and France， among other WesternEuropean countries， also trade substantiallywith China. Go to any supermarkets， shoppingcenters or electronic appliance stores in thesecountries， and you will find “Made in China”stamped on product after product. Becauseof the cheaper costs， many companiesin these countries have relocated theirmanufacturing bases to China. There are alsodomestic Chinese products that are shippedabroad. If there is any (economic) colonization by Chinain the world， it is likely happening in Europe， the UnitedStates， Canada and Australia. In 2008， China becamethe biggest foreign creditor of the United States throughtreasury bills， notes and bonds. The U.S. economy largelydepends on China. To solve the Eurozone crisis， Europeancountries asked China for a bailout. And how many Europeancountries’ export markets (both macro and micro)depend largely on China？

　　And still： How many times have we heard phrases like：China is colonizing Africa or China is “taking over” Africa，generally pronounced by Westerners. I think such opinionsare hypocritical. Are we speaking of sovereign Africancountries or are we not？

　　Africa’s independent countries operate in the era ofglobalization just like anyone else； they are not in aWestern backyard. Globalization brings about moreinternational relations and partnerships betweendifferent regions of the world. It might be worthwhileto recall that colonization has never beennegotiated through political or economic cooperationand partnership between former colonies andcolonial powers. It rather was through forced，violent and brutal military conquest. Today’s“teachers of democracy” have practiced，indeed， a long history of democracy athome - and one of oppression elsewhere. Somuch for the moral high ground that Westerncountries claim.

　　What Chinese migration？

　　When it comes to Chinese overseas migration，the largest population of overseasChinese migrants outside Southeast Asiais in the United States， Australia， Canadaand Europe. In many places outside ofChina， Chinese migrants have establishedChinatowns， with buildings based ontypical Chinese architecture， and wherethe most spoken language is Mandarinor other Chinese dialects. Those Chinesecompounds or towns in many cities overseas(the Queens neighborhood in NewYork， and Chinatowns in Montreal andSydney as examples) are well frequentedby locals in search of cheap Chinese consumergoods， food， or places to rent.

　　The Chinatowns as designed in thosecountries contribute to China’s culturalexpansion. And let us not forget aboutthe number of Confucius Institutes indeveloped countries which are ways forChina to embrace more people for theunderstanding of China through the expansionof Chinese culture and language.

　　In some developed countries， Mandarinis taught at schools as a second languageand Chinese martial arts are part of the sports curriculum.When schools in Lagos of Nigeria announced the samestep， it made Western headlines.

　　China in perspective

　　Even though China is economically rising， it is still a developing country and faces numerous domestic challenges.

　　However， because of its absolute size， China’s economyhas overtaken some of the world’s biggest economiesover the past decades. The country’s increasing engagementin other regions of the world， particularly in developingcountries， has not always been appreciated， and indeveloped countries especially has become a source offrustration. Such a meteoric rise has reshaped the world’spolitical economic order， with China asserting its positionin the international arena.

　　To counter China’s growing global expansion andfootprint in world political and economic affairs， someWestern academics， journalists and media analysts attimes claim to be China experts without conducting anyempirical study (on the ground) on any specific researchtopic regarding China-Africa relations or China’s engagementwith the rest of the world. The mere repetition of afamiliar tune contributes to the so called “China bashing.”

　　Similarly， with opposing goals， Chinese media experts andacademics contribute to official Chinese propaganda byignoring the situation on the ground and not trying totake the perspective of the Africans affected by China’spolicies. Many Chinese scholars working on Africa havenever been to the continent - and this is changing slowly，as there seem to be fears of moving away from the officialline and Party control.

　　Certainly， Chinese engagement - just like that of theWest - has its problems. Often enough， Westerners withbiased or preconceived perspectives are analyzing thequestion based on their “selfish” political and economicinterests rather than engaging in joint empirical researchof equal partners. We need to engage beyond the quickjudgment and explore this China-Africa topic with a viewto contribute to overcoming challenges and addressexisting issues (rather than “disclosing” Chinese evils). Infact， this should be the task on the topic for all researchers，media experts and governments in Africa， China andelsewhere. For that， a better analysis is needed - not onlybased on a literature reviews and desk-based researchbut also through fieldwork relying on our research ethicsto deliver balanced empirical results.