Course Outline

China in Africa

International Programmes Stellenbosch University

2013 (first semester)
Lecture / Seminar time: Tuesdays 10:00 -13:00

Lecturer: Steven C. Kuo [e-mail] Course Description
This course introduces students to the study of China in Africa and the relations between Chinese and African states as well as Chinese and African non-state actors. The re-emergence of China has begun to affect most facets of the current western-dominated international system. For Africa, the rapid rise of China is the most important international relations development since the end of the Cold War. Despite a great deal of interest and attention in the relationship between China and Africa shown in the media and by civil society and governments, there remains a great deal of mystery and misinformation about the nature of the relationship(s) between Beijing and different actors in Africa.
This course examines and moves beyond the dichotomy of China in Africa as either ‘threat’ or ‘opportunity’ and students will examine the nuances of this emerging, complex relationship. The course is divided into two halves. In the first half, students are guided through readings drawn from Chinese history; Chinese foreign policy analysis; international relations theory; neopatrimonialism and the history between China and the Third World. In the second half, students examine specific case studies concerning China in Africa. They include: Chinese approach to aid and development in Africa; the Chinese in Sudan; Chinese approach to human rights in Africa, China’s alternative approach to peacekeeping, peacebuilding and peacemaking on the continent and oil politics.

Learning outcomes:
At the conclusion of the course, diligent students should be able to: * Understand the motivations and limitations of the African policy of the People’s Republic of China, and how it has evolved over the past six decades. * Be aware of, and have the ability to discern historical, ideational, realist and other factors that shape China’s African policy in the context of the international system. * Come to a critical and informed position on China’s rise and China’s role in the world. * Understand the potentialities and limitations of international relations in sub-Saharan African countries. * Be able to identify and analyze specific issues concerning Sino-Africa relations.

Teaching method
This course consists of lectures and class discussions. The lectures will provide a framework and introduce the scholarship, and will guide the students towards formulating their own positions on China and Africa. Class discussion will require significant student participation in presenting, discussing and debating the issues presented. Students are to have studied each week’s readings in advance, and must come to class with a two-page synopsis of the readings.
Course requirements
Attendance of all lectures and class discussions is compulsory. A class attendance register will be kept. The course will be assessed by one class test (10%), presentation (10%), one research essay assignment (40%) and the final exam. The assignment should be between 2500 to 3000 words in length.

Stay Informed
In addition to scanning the major western newspaper websites’ Asia and Africa sections, read the following websites for a broader range of perspectives.
African news websites
The Daily Maverick (http://dailymaverick.co.za/)
South African Foreign Policy Innitiative (http://www.safpi.org/)
Pambazuka News (http://www.pambazuka.org/en/)
City Press (http://www.citypress.co.za/)
This Day (http://www.thisdaylive.com/) [based in Nigeria]
Chinese state media
People’s Daily (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/home.html)
Xinhua (http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/)
China Daily (http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/)
News websites that provide good analysis of Chinese politics
South China Morning Post (http://www.scmp.com) [based in Hong Kong]
Financial Times – China (http://www.ft.com/world/asiapacific/china)
World news/China at The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/china)
Analects blog at The Economist (http://www.economist.com/blogs/analects)
Wall Street Journal Asia Edition (http://asia.wsj.com/home-page)

Assignment questions 1. Why did Mao choose to stand in opposition to both superpowers during the Cold War? How did this strategy affect China’s Africa policy? Discuss. 2. In what way did the legacy of the Century of Humiliation shape the PRC’s foreign policy? How did this experience shape China’s African engagements? 3. The Chinese emergence in Africa has been met with much alarm in the West. Why is this? 4. Will China replicate the neo-colonial relationship the West has with resource-rich African countries? Discuss. 5. Account for and critically assess China’s oil diplomacy in Africa with reference to the Sudan. 6. Account for and critically assess China’s foreign aid, in what ways do China succeed and/or fail compared to existing ‘traditional aid’ provided by Western countries? 7. Account for and provide a substantiated assessment of China’s increasing engagement in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in Africa.

Week 1 Introduction
Deborah Brautigam ‘Rogue Donor? Myths and Realities’ in Deborah Brautigam Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 273-299.

Week 2 Understanding the international relations of the People’s Republic of China
Required reading:
Henry Kissinger ‘The Kowtow Question and the Opium War’ in Henry Kissinger On China The Penguin Press, 2011, pp. 33-51.
Michael H. Hunt ‘The Pertinence of the Past’ in The Genesis of Chinese Communist Foreign Policy Columbia University Press, 1995, pp. 3-28.
Additional reading:
William C. Kirby ‘China’s Internationalization in the Early People’s Republic: Dreams of a Socialist World Economy’ The China Quarterly, vol. 188, December 2006, pp. 870-890.
Allen S. Whiting, ‘Chinese Nationalism and Foreign Policy after Deng,’ The China Quarterly, vol. 142, June 1995, pp. 295-316.
Kenneth Lieberthal ‘The Legacies of Imperial China’ in Kenneth Lieberthal Governing China: From Revolution through Reform W. W. Norton and Company, 1995, pp. 3-26.
Suisheng Zhao ‘The Origins of Chinese Nationalism: Western Challenge, Chinese Tradition, Ethnicity, and the State’ in Shisheng Zhao A Nation-State by Construction Stanford University Press, 2004, pp. 37-78.
David Lampton ‘China’s Foreign Policy and National Security Policy-Making Process: Is it Changing and Does it Matter?’ in David Lampton (ed.) The Making of Chinese Foreign Policy in the Era of Reform 1978-2000 Stanford University Press, 2001, pp. 1-38.
Discussion question:
How did China’s imperial tradition and Marxism-Leninism shape the view of PRC’s leaders? Week 3 Understanding postcolonial African politics and its international relations
Required reading:
Ian Taylor, ‘Introduction: Africa’s International Relations’ in Ian Taylor The International Relations of Sub-Saharan Africa Continuum, 2010, pp. 1-23.
Nicolas van de Walle, African Economies and The Politics of Permanent Crisis, 1979-1999, Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. 113-151, Ch. 3: Decision Making in Postcolonial Africa
Additional reading:
Jean-Franciois Bayart, The State in Africa: The Politics of the Belly, Longman, 1993, pp. 1-37.
Naomi Chazan, Peter Lewis, Robert A. Mortimer, Donald Rothchild, and Stephen John Stedman, Politics and Society in Contemporary Africa, 3rd edition Lynne Rienner, 1999, pp. 421-464, Ch. 12 Africa in World Politics.
Paul Nugent, Africa Since Independence: A Comparative History Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
Discussion question:
What are the characteristics of neopatrimonialism? How does it shape African politics and international relations?

Week 4 Red China in Africa: Historical relations between Beijing and Africa
Required reading:
Chris Alden, Daniel Large and Ricardo Soares de Oliveira ‘Introduction’ in Chris Alden, Daniel Large and Ricardo Soares de Oliveira China Returns to Africa: A rising Power and a Continent Embrace Hurst & Company, 2008, pp. 1-26.
Philip Snow, ‘China and Africa: Consensus and Camouflage’ in Thomas Robinson and David Shambaugh (eds) Chinese Foreign Policy: Theory and Practice, 1995, pp. 283 - 321.
Additional readings
Alan Hutchinson China’s African Revolution Hutchison & Co, 1975.
Lowell Dittmer ‘China’s Search for its Place in the World’ in Brantly Womack, (ed.) Contemporary Chinese Politics in Historical Perspective Cambridge University Press, 1991, pp. 209-264.
Alaba Ogunsanwo, China’s Policy in Africa: 1958-71 Cambridge University Press, 1974.
Chris Alden ‘China’s New Foreign Policy Towards Africa’ in Chris Alden China in Africa Zed Books, 2007, pp. 8-36.
Additional reading:
Garth le Pere and Garth Shelton ‘China and Africa: A Historical Overview’ in Garth le Pere and Garth Shelton China, Africa and South Africa: South-South co-Operation in a Global Era Institute for Global Dialogue, 2007, pp. 41-63.
Discussion question:
What were the main factors that motivated China’s African diplomatic engagements in the 1950, 60s and 70s?

Week 5 China’s Policy towards Africa since the 1990s
Required reading:
Ian Taylor ‘China’s Foreign Policy Towards Africa in the 1990s’, Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 36, no. 3, September 1998, pp. 443-460.
Anshan Li ‘China’s New Policy toward Africa’ in Robert I. Rotberg, (ed.) China into Africa: Trade, Aid and Influence Brookings Institution Press, 2008, pp. 2-49.
Wenran Jiang, ‘China’s Emerging Strategic Partnerships in Africa’ in Robert I. Rotberg, ed., China into Africa: Trade, Aid and Influence Brookings Institution Press, 2008, pp. 50-64.
Additional reading:
Dennis Tull ‘China’s engagement in Africa: Scope, Significance and Consequences’, Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 44, no. 3, 2006, pp. 459-479.
Ian Taylor ‘The Ambiguous Commitment: The People’s Republic of China and the Anti-Apartheid Struggle in South Africa’, Journal of Contemporary African Studies, vol. 18, no. 1, January 2000, pp. 91-106.
Liu Guojing, ‘All-Weather Friends in Need and in Deed: China-Africa Relations Seen from the Eyes of a Chinese Diplomat’ in Marcel Kitissou (ed.) Africa in China’s Global Strategy Adonis & Abbey, 2007, pp. 75-86.
Ian Taylor ‘Back to the Future? The Rising Chinese Relationship with Africa’ in Ian Taylor The International Relations of Sub-Saharan Africa Continuum, 2010.
Bates Gill and James Reilly ‘The Tenuous Hold of China Inc. in Africa’, Washington Quarterly, vol. 30, no.3, 2007, pp. 37-52.
Ian Taylor ‘China’s Africa Policy in Context’ in Ian Taylor China’s New Role in Africa Lynne Rienner, 2009, pp. 1-36.
Robert I. Rotberg ‘China’s Quest for Resources, Opportunities, and Influence in Africa’ in Robert I. Rotberg (ed.), China into Africa: Trade, Aid, and Influence Brookings Institution Press, 2008, pp. 1-20.
Arthur Waldron ‘Forward: China in Africa’ in Arthur Waldron (ed.) China in Africa The Jamestown Foundation, 2008, pp. 1-10.
Discussion question:
In what ways have the PRC’s African engagements changed since the 1990s? And in what ways have they remained the same?
Week 6 Universal Human Rights? Human Rights from the Chinese Perspective
Required reading:
Stephen Brown and Chandra Lekha Sriram, ‘China’s Role in Human Rights Abuses in Africa: Clarifying Issues of Culpability’ in Robert I. Rotbertg (ed.) China into Africa: Trade, Aid, and Influence,2008, pp. 250-271.
Ian Taylor and Shaun Breslin ‘Explaining the Rise of ‘Human Rights’ in Analyses of Sino-African Relations’, Review of African Political Economy, no. 115, 2008, pp. 59-71.
Additional reading:
Ian Taylor ‘Governance in Africa and Sino-African relations: Contradictions or Confluence?’ Politics, no. 27, vol. 3, 2007, pp. 139-146.
Thomas Koelble and Edward Lipuma ‘Democratizing Democracy: A Postcolonial Critique of Conventional Approaches to the ‘Measurement of Democracy’’, Democratization, vol. 15, no. 1, 2008, pp 1-28.
Week 7 A New Developmental Partner? Chinese aid and development cooperation in Africa
Required Reading

Discussion question:
In what ways is China responsible for Africa’s human rights problems? And in what ways is China not responsible?
Week 7 Emerging Chinese role in Peacekeeping, Peacebuilding and Peacemaking in Africa
Required reading:
Steven C. Kuo, ‘Beijing’s Understanding of African Security: Context and Limitation,’ African Security, vol. 5, no. 1, 2012, pp. 24-43.
David H. Shinn ‘Military and Security Relations: China, Africa, and the Rest of the World’ in Robert I. Rotberg (ed.) China into Africa: Trade, Aid and Influence Brookings Institution Press, 2008, pp. 155-196.
Additional reading:
Bates Gill and Chin-Hao Huang, China’s Expanding Role in Peacekeeping: Prospects and Policy Implications, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 2009.
Ian Taylor ‘Peacekeeping’ in Ian Taylor China’s New Role in Africa, 2009, pp. 133-160.
Stefan Stähle, ‘China's Shifting Attitude towards United Nations Peacekeeping Operations’ The China Quarterly, no. 195, 2008, pp 631-655.
Zhengyu Wu and Ian Taylor, ‘From Refusal to Engagement: Chinese Contributions to Peacekeeping in Africa,’ Journal of Contemporary African Studies, vol. 29, issue 2, 2011, pp. 137-154.
Yin He China’s Changing Policy on UN Peacekeeping Operations Institute for Security and Development Policy, 2007.
Saferworld China’s Growing Role in African Peace and Security Saferworld, 2011.
International Crisis Group China’s Growing Role in UN Peacekeeping International Crisis Group, 2009.
Discussion question:
In what ways is China’s increasing participation in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in Africa beneficial / detrimental for maintaining peace in Africa? Can external powers contribute to the maintenance of sustainable peace in Africa? Week 8 Troublemaker or Peacemaker? The Case of Darfur
Required reading:
Jonathan Holslag ‘China’s Diplomatic Manoeuvring on the Question of Darfur’, Journal of Contemporary China, vol. 17, no. 54, 2007, pp. 71-84.
Daniel Large ‘China and the Contradictions of ‘Non-Interference’ in Sudan’, Review of African Political Economy, vol. 35, no. 115, 2008, pp. 93-106.
Ali Askouri ‘China’s Investment in Sudan: Displacing villages and Destroying Communities’ in Firoze Manji and Stephen Marks (eds.) African Perspectives on China in Africa Fahamu 2007, pp. 71-86.
Additional reading:
Ian Taylor ‘China’s Arms Sales to Africa’ in Arthur Waldron China in Africa The Jamestown Foundation, 2008, pp. 36-41.
Allen Carlson ‘Helping to Keep the Peace (albeit Reluctantly): China’s Recent Stance on Sovereignty and Multilateral Intervention’, Pacific Affairs, vol. 77, no. 1, 2004, pp. 8-27.
Allen Carlson ‘Moving Beyond Sovereignty? A Brief Consideration of Recent Changes in China’s Approach to International Order and the Emergence of the Tianxia Concept’, Journal of Contemporary China, vol. 20, no. 68, 2011, pp. 89-102.
Discussion question:
Why was Beijing motivated to defend the al-Bashir regime in Khartoum in the UN Security Council prior to 2008? Why did Beijing change its stance?

Week 9 New Scramble for Africa? Oil Politics
Required reading:
Ricardo Soares de Oliveira ‘Making Sense of Chinese Oil Investments in Africa’ in Chris Alden, Daniel Large and Ricardo Soares de Oliveira (eds.) China Returns to Africa: A Rising Power and a Continent Embrace Hurst & Company 2008, pp. 83-110.
Wenran Jiang ‘Fuelling the Dragon: China’s Rise and Its Energy and Resource Extraction in Africa’, The China Quarterly, vol. 199, September 2009, pp. 585-609.
Ian Taylor ‘China’s Oil Diplomacy in Africa’, International Affairs, vol. 82, no. 5, September 2006, pp. 937-960.
Additional reading:
Wenran Jiang ‘China’s booming Energy Relations with Africa’ in Arthur Waldron China in Africa The Jamestown Foundation, 2008, pp. 42-44.
Ian Taylor ‘Oil Diplomacy’ in Ian Taylor China’s New Role in Africa,2009, pp. 37-62.
Henry Lee and Dan Shalmon ‘Searching for Oil: China’s Oil strategies in Africa’ in Robert I. Rotberg, ed., China into Africa: Trade, Aid, and Influence, 2008, pp. 109-136.
Discussion question:
Will China replicate the neo-colonial relationship the West has with resource-rich developing countries? Why and/or why not?

Week 10 Business is Business: A Trade Perspective
Required reading:
Harry G. Broadman ‘Chinese-African Trade and Investment: The Vanguard of South-South Commerce in the Twenty-First Century in Robert I. Rotberg (ed.) China into Africa: Trade, Aid and Influence, 2008, pp. 87-108.
Andrea Goldstein, Nicolas Pinaud and Helmut Reisen ‘China’s Boom: What’s in it for Africa? A Trade Perspective’ in Chris Alden, Daniel Large and Ricardo Sores De Oliveira (eds.) China Returns to Africa: A Rising Power and a Continent Embrace,2008, pp. 27-50.
Deborah Brautigam China’s Foreign Aid in Africa: What Do We Know? in Robert I. Rotberg, ed., China into Africa: Trade, Aid and Influence, 2008, pp. 197-216.
Additional reading:
Lucy Corkin ‘Redefining Foreign Policy Impulses toward Africa: The Roles of the MFA, the MOFCOM and China Exim Bank’, Journal Of Current Chinese Affairs, vol. 40, no. 4, 2012, pp. 61-90. Retrieved April 17, 2012, from http://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/jcca/article/view/480/478
Jonathan Holslag ‘China’s New Mercantilism in Central Africa’, African and Asian Studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2006.
Deborah Brautigam The Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa Oxford University Press, 2009.
Raphael Kaplinsky ‘Winner and Losers: China’s Trade Threats and Opportunities for Africa’ in Leni Wild and David Mepham (eds.) The New Sinosphere The Institute for Public Policy Research, 2006, pp. 12-21.
Abah Ofon ‘South-South Co-operation: Can Africa Thrive with Chinese Investment?’ in Leni Wild and David Mepham (eds.) The New Sinosphere The Institute for Public Policy Research, 2006, pp. 23-28.

Discussion question:
In what ways do Chinese aid, trade and development assistance differ from those provided by traditional Western partners in Africa? What criteria should we use to judge which models are better?

Week 11 Where Are China-Africa Relations Headed?
Required reading:
Stephen Chan ‘Ten Caveats and One Sunshine in our Contemplation of China and Africa’ in Chris Alden, Daniel Large and Ricardo Sores De Oliveira (eds.) China Returns to Africa: A Rising Power and a Continent Embrace, 2008,pp. 339-348.
Ian Taylor ‘What does it all mean?’ in Ian Taylor China’s New Role in Africa, 2009, pp. 161-186.
Chris Alden ‘Consolidating China-Africa Relations’ in Chris Alden China in Africa, 2007, pp. 120-136.
Suggested reading:
Christopher Clapham ‘Fitting China in’ in Chris Alden, Daniel Large and Ricardo Soares de Oliveira (eds.) China Returns to Africa: A Rising Power and a Continent Embrace, pp. 361-369.
Daniel Large ‘All Over Africa’ in Chris Alden, Daniel Large and Ricardo Soares de Oliveira (eds.) China Returns to Africa: A Rising Power and a Continent Embrace, pp. 371-376.
Discussion question:
How can Africa take advantage of the rise of China in its own development?
Week 12 Conclusion