Abstract
What makes China so unique on the international political stage is echoed not only in its strategic policymaking and economic approach with the Western world, which became all the more aggressive under the presidency of Xi Jinping, but also towards the “Global South,” namely, Africa. China’s presence in Africa has distant origins. To provide some credible scenarios, this chapter will focus on the genesis and development of relationships between the Chinese and Africans up to the present day to get a thorough, albeit Western, perspective on their significant role in today’s world economy and politics.
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Notes
- 1.
Jürgen Osterhammel, China und die weltgesellschaft (Italian edition, Einaudi, Torino, 1992, p. 550).
- 2.
Osterhammel, China, p. 582.
- 3.
Henry McAleavy, The modern history of China, 1967 (Italian edition, Rizzoli, Milano, 1969).
- 4.
Eric J. Hobsbawam, The Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, 1914–1991 (Italian edition, Rcs Libri, Milano, 1977, p. 264).
- 5.
Giovanni Aliberti, Francesco Malgeri, Due secoli al Duemila, Led, Milano, 1999, p. 709–71.
- 6.
“Bandung Conference”. Encyclopedia Britannica, May 2020 (https://www.britannica.com/event/Bandung-Conference).
- 7.
April 19, 1955, Main Speech by Premier Zhou Enlai, Head of the Delegation of the People’s Republic of China, Distributed at the Plenary Session of the Asian-African Conference, Wilson Center Digital Archive, http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/121623.
- 8.
Marco Della Pina, “Bandung Conference”, Europa e mondo dall’età moderna all’età contemporanea, Chap. 19, p. 3, University of Pisa, 2005.
- 9.
Stuart Schram, The Political Thought of Mao Zedong (Italian edition, Mondadori, Milano, 1969).
- 10.
Osterhammel, China, p. 588.
- 11.
“Record of Premier Zhou Enlai’s Conversations with the President of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah,” March 8, 1964, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, P.R.C. FMA 203-00623-02, 1–40. Translated by Stephen Mercado. https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/165410.
- 12.
Jean-Baptiste Duroselle, Histoire diplomatique de 1919 à nos jours (Italian ed. Led Edizioni, Milano, 1998).
- 13.
“Record of Conversation from Premier Zhou’s Reception of UAR Deputy Prime Minister Aziz Sedky,” December 19, 1965, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, P.R.C. FMA 107-01030-03, 20–41. Translated by Stephen Mercado. https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/165428.
- 14.
Jean-Baptiste Duroselle, Histoire diplomatique.
- 15.
Yun Sun, Africa in China’s Foreign Policy, Brookings, 2014.
- 16.
“Cable from the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, ‘Egyptian Newspaper Carries Its Correspondent’s Report on the Conversation between Amer and Chairman Mao’,” November 21, 1957, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, P.R.C. FMA 107-00243-08. Obtained by Sergey Radchenko and translated by Neil Silver. https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/117877.
- 17.
Anastasia Zabella, Russian and Chinese assistance to Asian and African countries: comparative analysis and coordination prospects, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences No 17-27-21002, p. 75.
- 18.
Zhou Enlai’s Speech at the War Planning Meeting of the Central Military Commission, May 21, 1965, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, Dangde wenxian (Party Documents), No. 3,1994. http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/112091.
- 19.
Zbignew Brzezinski, Africa and the Communist World, Stanford University, 1963.
- 20.
J. Chester Cheng, The Politics of the Chinese Red Army, Stanford University, 1966.
- 21.
Kenneth W. Hager, Race Relations in the United States and American Cultural and Information Programs in Ghana, 1957–1966, The U.S. National Archives & Records Administration, Winter 1999, Vol. 31, No. 4.
- 22.
Scott Thomas, The Diplomacy of Liberation: The Foreign Relations of the ANC Since 1960, Taurus Academic Studies, London, 1995.
- 23.
Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Little, Brown & Company, New York, 1994. It is noteworthy that in 1992, when South Africa’s segregationist regime was ending and the ANC leader had just been released, Mandela went to China.
- 24.
Sheridan Johns, Obstacles to Guerrilla Warfare: A South African Case Study, The Journal of Modern African Studies, Volume 11, Issue 2, Cambridge, 1973, p. 273.
- 25.
“Record of Premier Zhou Enlai’s Conversations with the President of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah,” March 8, 1964, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, P.R.C. FMA 203-00623-02, 1–40. Translated by Stephen Mercado. https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/165410.
- 26.
For example, in Osterhammel, China, the “Tan-Zam” agreement is the only African-related event included in the chronology of the most important events in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Chinese history.
- 27.
Simonetta Musso, La politica cinese verso i Paesi africani degli anni ’50 e’60, Mondo Cinese, Roma, 1995.
- 28.
At Ghana’s independence ceremonies, the United States sent Vice President Richard Nixon with a high-level delegation in tow.
- 29.
Hager, Race Relations.
- 30.
Simonetta Musso, La politica cinese.
- 31.
UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 (XXVI) of October 25, 1971, United Nations Database, https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/2758(XXVI).
- 32.
Need to review General Assembly Resolution 2758 (XXVI) of October 25, 1971, owing to the fundamental change in the international situation and to the coexistence of two governments across the Taiwan Strait, letter dated July 8, 1998, from the representatives of Burkina Faso, El Salvador, the Gambia, Grenada, Liberia, Nicaragua, Sao Tome and Principe, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Swaziland, and Solomon Islands to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (A/53/145, July 8, 1998). In the letter, the 11 countries wrote about the relations between the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the developing countries: “The Republic of China also has an exemplary record of altruistic aid in donations and technical assistance to developing nations. Over the years, it has sent over 10,000 experts to train technicians all over the world, especially in Asia, the South Pacific, Latin America, and Africa, to help develop their agricultural, fishery, and livestock industries. It has also provided over $130 million in disaster relief throughout the world in the past several years and has even contributed indirectly to the United Nations call for aid during the Persian Gulf War and for the relief and rehabilitation of children in Rwanda.” Other signatory countries of the letter were El Salvador, Grenada, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Solomon Islands.
- 33.
Anastasia Zabella, China in Africa, p. 76.
- 34.
Giovanni Carbone, L’Africa, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2021, p. 252.
- 35.
Anastasia Zabella, China in Africa, p. 76.
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Brzezinski Zbigniew, Africa and the Communist World, Redwood City: Stanford University Press, 1963
Carbone Giovanni, L’Africa, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2021
Cheng J. Chester, The Politics of the Chinese Red Army, Redwood City: Stanford University, 1966
Della Pina Marco, “Bandung Conference”, Europa e mondo dall’età moderna all’età contemporanea, Pisa: Pisa University Press, 2005
Duroselle Jean-Baptiste, Histoire diplomatique de 1919 à nos jours, Milan: Led Edizioni, 1998
Hobsbawam Eric J., The Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, 1914-1991, Milan: Rcs Libri, 1977
Mandela Nelson, Long Walk to Freedom, New York: Little, Brown & Company, 1994
McAleavy, Henry The modern history of China, Milan: Rizzoli, 1967
Osterhammel Jürgen, China und die weltgesellschaft, Turin: Einaudi, 1992
Schram Stuart, The Political Thought of Mao Zedong, Milan: Mondadori, 1969
Scott Thomas, The Diplomacy of Liberation: The Foreign Relations of the ANC Since 1960, London: Taurus Academic Studies, 1995
Journal Articles
Hager Kenneth W., Race Relations in the United States and American Cultural and Information Programs in Ghana, 1957-1966, The U.S. National Archives & Records Administration, Vol. 31, No. 4 (Winter 1999)
Musso Simonetta, La politica cinese verso i Paesi africani degli anni ’50 e’60, Mondo Cinese, n. 88 (January - April 1995)
Zabella Anastasia, Russian and Chinese assistance to Asian and African countries: comparative analysis and coordination prospects, RUDN Journal of World History, Volume 12, No. 1 (Febraury 2020): 35-46
Sheridan Johns, Obstacles to Guerrilla Warfare: A South African Case Study, The Journal of Modern African Studies, Volume 11, Issue 2 (June 1973): 267-303
Yun Sun, Africa in China’s Foreign Policy, Washington: Brookings, 2014
Website Contents
“Bandung Conference”. Encyclopedia Britannica, May 2020, https://www.britannica.com/event/Bandung-Conference
“April 19, 1955 Main Speech by Premier Zhou Enlai, Head of the Delegation of the People’s Republic of China, Distributed at the Plenary Session of the Asian-African Conference, Wilson Center Digital Archive”, http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/121623
“Record of Premier Zhou Enlai’s Conversations with the President of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah,” March 08, 1964a, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, PRC FMA 203-00623-02, 1-40. Translated by Stephen Mercado. https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/165410
“Record of Conversation from Premier Zhou’s Reception of UAR Deputy Prime Minister Aziz Sedky,” December 19, 1965, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, PRC FMA 107-01030-03, 20-41. Translated by Stephen Mercado. https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/165428
“Cable from the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, ‘Egyptian Newspaper Carries Its Correspondent’s Report on the Conversation between Amer and Chairman Mao’,” November 21, 1957, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, PRC FMA 107-00243-08. Obtained by Sergey Radchenko and translated by Neil Silver. https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/117877
Zhou Enlai’s Speech at the War Planning Meeting of the Central Military Commission, May 21, 1965, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, Dangde wenxian (Party Documents), No. 3,1994. http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/112091
“Record of Premier Zhou Enlai’s Conversations with the President of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah,” March 08, 1964b, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, PRC FMA 203-00623-02, 1-40. Translated by Stephen Mercado. https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/165410
“Need to review General Assembly resolution 2758 (XXVI) of 25 October 1971 lowing to the fundamental change in the international situation and to the coexistence of two Governments across the Taiwan Strait”, Letter dated 8 July 1998 from the representatives of Burkina Faso, El Salvador, the Gambia, Grenada, Liberia, Nicaragua, Sao Tome and Principe, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Swaziland and Solomon Islands to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (A/53/145, 8 July 1998), https://www.un.org/ar/ga/53/a53145.htm
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Cazzola Hofmann, R. (2022). China in Africa: Historical Roots, 1949–1970. In: Abidde, S.O. (eds) China and Taiwan in Africa. Africa-East Asia International Relations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95342-3_2
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