The exceptional state in Africa: Image management in Sino-African relations

Abstract

China's relations with African states have undergone significant changes in recent years. China has projected its relationship with Africa as one of equality and ‘mutual help’. Such perceptions of foreign policy stem from the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the shared experience of imperialist domination and economic underdevelopment. Moreover, various public statements by China's elites suggest that China is expected to play a much more prominent, even exceptional role in Africa. This purportedly entails moving beyond the hegemonic West's interventionist aid or security policies, and is also implicitly designed to highlight the West's shortcomings in promoting African economic growth or peace. Yet where does this perception of exceptionalism come from? Why does Beijing feel that it has to play a leading role in Africa's development? How can Beijing distinguish itself from the nations of the West, who are regularly criticised for being paternalistic?

Keywords:

• China
• exceptionalism
• Africa
• development

Acknowledgements

Research for this article was made possible by funding from the CO-REACH (Coordination of Research between Europe and China) Project ‘Europe and China: Addressing New International Security and Development Challenges in Africa’. The author is grateful for comments and encouragement from the two principal research leaders, Catherine Gegout and Daniel Bach, as well as Miwa Hirono.

Notes

1. This discourse has been examined in detail in the American contexts by Turner O, ‘Representing China: Historical and contemporary images and policy in the United States’, PhD thesis, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, 2011.

2. See Kent A, China, the United Nations, and Human Rights: The Limits of Compliance. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999.

3. Tian YL, ‘Zou chu qu: zhongbu feizhou chongman shangji’ [‘Going out: Central Africa is full of business opportunities’], Zhongguo Jingmao, April 2003, p. 61.

4. Tian YL, ‘Zou chu qu: zhongbu feizhou chongman shangji’ [‘Going out: Central Africa is full of business opportunities’], Zhongguo Jingmao, April 2003, p. 61.

5. While this definition is state-centric, I acknowledge that such notions of superiority can also be held by non-state actors, such as non-governmental organisations.

6. However, see Sugimoto Y, ‘Making sense of nihonjinron’, Thesis Eleven, 57, 1999, pp. 85–6.

7. Holsti KJ, ‘Exceptionalism in American foreign policy: Is it exceptional?’, European Journal of International Relations, 17, 3, 2010, p. 384 also supports this assertion.

8. See for instance Hitchens P, ‘How China has created a new slave empire in Africa’, Daily Mail 28 September 2008, accessed 3 January 2012, <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1063198/PETER-HITCHENS-How-China-created-new-slave-empire-Africa.html>; Groves J, ‘Cameron warns Africans over the “Chinese invasion” as they pour billions into continent’, Daily Mail, 20 July 2011, accessed 6 September 2011, <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2016677/Cameron-warns-Africans-Chinese-invasion-pour-billions-continent.html>; The Economist, ‘The Chinese in Africa: Trying to pull together’, The Economist, 20 April 2011, accessed 5 September 2011, <http://www.economist.com/node/18586448>. Also see Hirono M & S Suzuki, ‘Why do we need “myth-busting” in Sino-African relations?’, unpublished manuscript, 2011.

9. Holsti KJ, ‘Exceptionalism in American foreign policy: Is it exceptional?’, European Journal of International Relations, 17, 3, 2010, p. 384.

10. For a comprehensive study of this policy, see Van Ness P, Revolution and Chinese Foreign Policy: Peking's Support for Wars of National Liberation. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1973.

11. For a discussion of Beijing's Africa policy during the Cold War period, see Ogunsanwo A, China's Policy in Africa 1958–1971. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974; Snow P, The Star Raft: China's Encounter with Africa. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1988; and Yu GT, ‘Sino-African relations: A survey’, Asian Survey, 5, 7, 1964, pp. 321–32.

12. This point is made persuasively in Van Ness P, ‘China as a Third World state: Foreign policy and official national identity’, in Dittmer L & SS Kim (eds), China's Quest for National Identity. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1993.

13. Fan ZS, Women zai feizhou [We are in Africa]. Beijing: Shijie zhishi chubanshe, 2011, p. 14, emphasis added.

14. Zhang YP, ‘Zhongguo wei feizhou zuole shenme’ [‘What has China done for Africa?’], Shijie zhishi, 13, 2011, p. 22.

15. Luo JB & XM Zhang, ‘Multilateral cooperation in Africa between China and Western Countries: From differences to consensus’, Review of International Studies, 37, 4, 2011, p. 1802.

16. Hu JS, Feizhou de zhongguo xingxiang [China's image in Africa]. Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 2010, p. 223.

17. Alden C & D Large, ‘China's exceptionalism and the challenges of delivering difference in Africa’, Journal of Contemporary China, 20, 68, 2010, p. 28.

18. Luo JB & XM Zhang, ‘Multilateral cooperation in Africa between China and Western Countries: From differences to consensus’, Review of International Studies, 37, 4, 2011, p. 1803.

19. Alden C & D Large, ‘China's exceptionalism and the challenges of delivering difference in Africa’, Journal of Contemporary China, 20, 68, 2010, p. 28.

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24. Zhang F, ‘The rise of Chinese exceptionalism in international relations’, European Journal of International Relations, forthcoming, p. 6.

25. This is explored in depth in Wu XB, ‘Four contradictions constraining China's foreign policy behavior’, Journal of Contemporary China, 10, 27, 2001, pp. 293–301. Also see Alden C & D Large, ‘China's exceptionalism and the challenges of delivering difference in Africa’, Journal of Contemporary China, 20, 68, 2010, p. 32.

26. Fan ZS, Women zai feizhou [We are in Africa]. Beijing: Shijie zhishi chubanshe, 2011, p. 11.

27. This of course is a highly selective reading of Chinese history, as has been shown convincingly by Johnston AI, Cultural Realism: Strategic Culture and Grand Strategy in Chinese History. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995.

28. Zhang F, ‘The rise of Chinese exceptionalism in international relations’, European Journal of International Relations, forthcoming, p. 8.

29. Interestingly, we are beginning to see non-Chinese commentators making parallel arguments. According to William Callahan, Martin Jacques’ work When China Rules the World constructs a strict binary between ‘East’ and ‘West’ to claim that China's rise to power will inevitably lead to a fundamental ideological/cultural shift in the international system. See Callahan WA, ‘Sino-speak: Chinese exceptionalism and the politics of history’, Journal of Asian Studies, 71, 1, 2012, pp. 35–7.

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32. In fact, Deborah Brautigam's important study has shown that the Chinese do not freely dispense money. Apart from the more obvious requirement that the recipient country must not recognise Taiwan, the Chinese frequently demand that construction projects involve Chinese companies, and that any finance provided for commercial projects must return a profit. See Brautigam D, The Dragon's Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 131–61.

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37. Hu JS, Feizhou de zhongguo xingxiang [China's image in Africa]. Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 2010, p. 254. A similar theme is repeated in Yu KP & JJ Zhuang, ‘Re huati yu ling sikao: guanyu “beijing gongshi” yu zhongguo fazhan moshi de duihua’ [‘Hot topic and cool thinking: A dialogue on the “Beijing consensus” and the Chinese developmental model’], in Huang P & ZY Cui (eds), Zhongguo yu quanqiu hua: huashengdun gongshi haishi beijing gongshi [China and Globalisation: The Washington Consensus or the Beijing Consensus?]. Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2005, p. 200.

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41. Hu JS, Feizhou de zhongguo xingxiang [China's image in Africa]. Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 2010, p. 253.

42. This particular statement comes from the declaration of the Third FOCAC Summit, which was held in Beijing, 4–5 November 2006, accessed 11 February 2012, <http://www.focac.org/eng/ltda/dscbzjhy/DOC32009/t606841.htm>.

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46. Zhao ZS, Zhongguo ren zai feizhou [The Chinese in Africa]. Hangzhou: Zhejiang renmin chubanshe, 2010, pp. 22–5. Compare this with the article ‘South Africa as i know it’, which appeared in the World Futsing Association: The article ‘consists of four paragraphs which begin with the subheadings “AIDS Widespread”, “Prisons Burst”, “Security Bad” and “Child Prostitution”.’ See Nyíri P, ‘The yellow man's burden: Chinese migrants on a civilizing mission’, The China Journal, 56, 2006, p. 103.

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67. The Chinese government also stepped up its propaganda to improve its overseas image in 2009, when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs initiated a campaign to ‘Establish a civilised image of Chinese citizens overseas’ [‘树立海外中国公民文明形象’]. A conference organized for this campaign noted that ‘some of our compatriots do not respect native customs, lack attention to individual behaviour, lack respect for law or ethical trading. Such uncivilised behaviour not only risks the individual's safety, but also damages the image of the Chinese as a whole’ [‘我部分海外同胞不注意尊重当地风俗、不注重个人修养、缺乏法律意或背商商业道德。这些不文明行为给本人带来安全风险, 也损害了中国人的整体对外形象’]. See Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ‘“Shuli haiwai zhongguo gongmin wenming xingxiang” yantaohui zai beijing juxing’ [“Establish a civilised image of Chinese citizens overseas” conference held in Beijing’], accessed 18 February 2012, <http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/chn/gxh/mtb/lsxw/t581983.htm#>.

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