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This paper examines China's engagement with Nigeria in the area of petroleum production and the need for harnessing local initiatives for petroleum refining. This is important because even though Nigeria is a major exporter of crude oil it remains an importer of refined petroleum products to meet domestic needs. With the aid of secondary data sourced from journal articles, books and reports of local and international organisations, this paper examines how China–Nigeria relations contribute to meeting the need for refined petroleum in Nigeria and how harnessing local initiatives can improve the situation in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevailing narratives in the discourse on China-Africa engagement are that China is developing Africa. This paper departs from those narratives because they disregard the agency of Africa's political elite. Basing its argument on the nature of the African political elite, the paper analyses their role in determining the impact of China's economic and trade engagement on economic development in their respective countries. To do that, it first discusses the nature and identity of African political elites, and examines how they control their states and scarce resources. Having done that, the paper then analyses their role in determining the nature and extent of development emanating from their countries’ economic engagement with China. It then concludes that it is not how much foreign states invest in African countries that determines Africa's rise, but rather political elites who influence the direction of their states’ development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore Kenyan audience reception and expectations of CCTV/CGTN Africa. Based on a mixed methods approach (a cross-sectional survey [N = 210] and interview schedule [N = 13]) which were concurrently conducted among the study population in Nairobi, this study revealed that the audience consumption of CCTV/CGTN is limited; with news stories, music and sports being the most commonly expected media products from the Chinese media outlet. The findings further suggest a raft of strategies, ranging from the provision of more contents about Africa, reporting in local perspectives to in-depth and critical reporting among others, as means of gratifying audience expectations of the Chinese news media in the continent. This study recommends that there is need for the state and non-state actors directly or indirectly involved in China's public diplomacy initiatives to review their strategies and devise better mechanisms of attaining favourable outcomes among the African audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western reactions to China's increasing investment in a number of countries in Africa, as well as Chinese counter-reactions, are often conceptualised as symptoms of a 'honey pot' conflict. Such an impression stems from viewing contemporary African development as a 'new scramble' for the continent's natural resources. However, the study critically unpacks these claims in various fundamental ways, demonstrating how it is untenable. Objections are based on a brief survey of Chinese discourses regarding Western criticism as well empirical objections based on the supposedly 'conflictual' cases of Angola and Sudan, where one in fact finds mutual toleration between the West and China. These realities contradict the assumptions of a honey pot conflict. The study concludes with the alternative proposition that any Sino-Western conflict can be more aptly described as partly self-interest driven, but at the same time normative, and is related to Western concerns about a 'spoiler' role played by China in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has, in the past decade or so, emerged as an important contributor to United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations, with Chinese peacekeepers serving in places as diverse as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia and Sudan. Indeed, China currently sends more peacekeeping troops abroad than any other permanent member of the UN Security Council. This is a major development in Sino-African relations. China's stance on peace operations is closely tied to its attitude on state sovereignty and this limits the type of interventions that Beijing is prepared to sanction vis-a-vis its role in peacekeeping missions. Yet it appears that Chinese policy in this regard is evolving. This study discusses why and how China's role in peacekeeping in Africa has played out and the likely directions this is to take in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sourcing sufficient supplies of energy to meet rapidly growing domestic demand is a major challenge for both China and India. The choices these two giants have made to meet that challenge in recent years will have long-term repercussions for the rest of the world. Although efforts to join forces in a global search for energy security are unlikely to overcome deeply ingrained Indian suspicions of China, both countries have already signed a series of energy co-operation agreements indicating the two states are seeking each other as strategic partners. This study provides an overview of the incentives for Sino-Indian co-operation in satisfying domestic oil demands. It will also examine the implications of such collaboration on regional and global orders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beijing's political 'charm offensive' in Africa has ostensibly made China a major player on the continent. The source of this success in China's African policy is sometimes seen in China's political and economic 'attractiveness'. It is true that China is building a positive image targeted to the audience in Africa, promoting for example the vision of 'win-win' mutual economic benefits from cooperation. This endeavour is close to the concept of 'soft power'. However, soft power is about dynamic relationships between an agent and the subject of attraction. Hence, the general growth of Chinese soft power and its success depends not only on whether China can sell its image to African states, but also whether African states are willing to buy this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses the impact of China's rise in Africa on the European Union (EU). Contrary to conventional wisdom, it argues that the EU's renewed interest in Africa is not the result of China's new assertiveness in the continent, but is a consequence of the EU's ambitions to become an influential global actor and the consequent search for a more coherent external policy. Africa, thus, represented an ideal venue in which different EU actors could simultaneously pursue traditional development goals together with new political objectives. Moreover, the existence of three competing visions within the EU negatively affected its ability to constructively engage with China: the European Commission sought to affirm the EU's aspiration to become an influential global actor; the European Parliament projected its preference for a value-based development policy, blended with paternalistic overtones; the Council of the European Union was driven more by the emotional reactions of some member states, who did not want to lose their position as Africa's main reference point. Unsurprisingly, the result has been a confused message, which China has found hard to follow, never mind Africa, since they were not effectively involved in the process and were sceptical about the whole idea of 'trilateral cooperation'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By conventional accounts, following the so-called 'Angola Model', the Chinese government is heavily involved in the national reconstruction programme through various financial institutions as a means to ensure closer relations with Angola and thus access to oil. China's strategy is thus ostensibly to accumulate political capital through the provision of infrastructure, financed by oil-backed concessional loans extended by Chinese state-owned banks. This study briefly traces the history of China's relations with Angola before examining the various parallel structures involved in the two country's co-operation over infrastructure, loans and oil. It examines the so-called 'Angola Model' by looking at three key assumptions surrounding risk, access to oil and China's political access in Angola. The study also evaluates the nature of the so-called 'strategic partnership' for both Angola and China. Political posturing indicates that both China and Angola see each other as necessary strategic allies for the foreseeable future, but this may mask an uneasy marriage of convenience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sino-Zambian relations are exceptional to a remarkable degree, and do not seem to fall into the common pattern used to describe the Sino-African relationship as part of a so-called 'new scramble for Africa'. Zambia is a country where both positive and negative developments took place earlier than elsewhere on the African continent and, in this respect, Zambia has always been one step ahead of the rest of its peers. This study is divided into three parts. The first part presents a historical overview of diplomatic relations between China and Zambia. The second part deals with the domestic politics of Zambia and the usage by Zambian elites of the Chinese presence as an argument in internal political discourses. The third part focuses on emerging patterns of Chinese investment in Zambia, and tries to unpack some of the common myths pertaining to the scope and nature of China's engagement in Africa, based on the Zambian example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares the evolution and characteristics of Chinese and Japanese aid, assessing the impact of their aid policies in sub-Saharan Africa from the 1950s to the present. It argues that China and Japan's aid programmes share more similarities than dissimilarities. Both pursue aid strategies that spread allocations across a region rather than concentrating upon specific countries. The article seeks to clarify the following questions. In what way are Chinese and Japanese aid strategies different from each other and Western donors? Should their aid be seen as a form of South-South co-operation that provides an alternative to the West's hegemony in Africa? Or is aid from these donors simply another strategy to control African resources and state elites in the guise of a partnership of equals? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to shed more light on the consequences of China's aid to and trade with African states. It attempts to answer two questions: First, does China's 'no-strings-attached' policy in Africa constitute a challenge to Western aid paradigms? Second, is there as an emerging state-sponsored Chinese model of 'effective governance', guided by a south-south vision of mutuality, equality and reciprocity at work? It is argued that China's Africa watchers are cautious, not wanting to project any false hopes into bilateral relationships with African countries. In the light of China's reform experience, these analysts propose that indigenous contexts should determine what developmental model to choose. China is unwilling to force its experiences of 'a market economy with Chinese characteristics' upon other nations. The article concludes by arguing that, although not unproblematic, there is reason to be positive about China's higher profile in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the involvement of the People's Republic of China in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. Intrusion of the Sino-Soviet in the liberation struggle during the mid-1960s; Refusal of the Soviet Union to provide assistance to the Pan-Africanist Congress; Involvement of Beijing in the diplomatic struggle against Pretoria.