Chinese and African Perspectives on China in Africa
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Chinese and African Perspectives on China in Africa
Through the voices of the peoples of Africa and the global South, Pambazuka Press and Pambazuka News disseminate analysis and debate on the struggle for freedom and justice.
Pambazuka Press - www.pambazukapress.org
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A Pan-African publisher of progressive books and DVDs on Africa and the global South that aim to stimulate discussion, analysis and engagem ent. Our publications address issues of human rights, social justice, advocacy, the politics of aid, d evelopment and international financ e, women's rights, em erging powers and activism. They are primarily written by well-known African academics and activists. All books are available as ebooks.
Pambazuka News - www.pambazuka.org The award-winning and influential electronic weekly newsletter providing a platform for progressive PanAfrican perspectives on politics, development and global affairs. With more than 1,500 contributors across the continent and a readership of more than 500,000, Pambazuka News h as become the indispensable source of authentic voices of Africa's socia l ana lysts and activists.
Heinrich Bbll Foundation - www.boell.or.ke The Heinrich Boll Foundation (HBF) is a political foundation affiliated to The Greens political party EAST & HORN in Germany, a green think tank and an intern aOF AFRICA tional policy network (see www.boell.d e). With offices in 28 different countries, HBF conducts and supports civic educational programmes in Germany and worldwide, promoting human rights, gender democracy, sustainable development and political dialogue. HBF's Regional Office for East and Horn of Africa is in Nairobi. II HEINRICH
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Pambazuka Press and Pambazuka News are published by Fahamu (wwwjahamu.org)
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Inese an rican on
ers ectives •
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Ina In
rica
Edited by Axel Harneit-Sievers , Stephen Marks and Sanusha Naidu
Pambazuka Press An imp rint of Fahamu Books
HEINRICH BOLL STiFTUNG EAST & HORN OF AFRICA
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Fountain Publishers Kampala - Uganda
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Published 2010 by Pambazuka Press, an imprint of Fahamu Books Cape Town, Dakar, N airobi and Oxford www.pambazukapress.org www.fahamubooks.org www.pambazuka.org and Heinrich Boll Foundation, Regio na l Office for East & H orn of Africa www.boell.or.ke Fa hamu, 2nd floor, 51 Corn market Street, Oxford OX1 3HA, UK Fahamu Kenya, PO Box 47l58, 00100 GPO, Na irobi, Kenya Fahamu Senegal, 9 Cite Sonatel 2, PO B 25021, Dakar-Fann, Dakar, Senegal Fahamu South Africa, c/o 27 A Es her St, Claremont, 7708, Cape Tow n, South Africa H einrich Boll Founda tion, Regional O ffic e for East & Horn of Africa, Forest Road , PO Box 10799-00100 GPO, N airobi, Kenya Published in Uga nda in 2010 by Fo untain Publishers Ltd 55 N krumah Road, PO Box 488, Kampala, Uga nda First published 2010 Copyri ght © Pambazuka Press 2010 A ll ri ghts reserved. Redistribution of the material presented in thi s work
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British Library Ca taloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
UK ISBN: 978-1-906387-33-4 pa perback UK ISB N: 978-1-906387-34-1 ebook Uganda ISBN: 978-9970-25-001-1
Contents Acknowledgements About the contributors Introduction Axel Harneit-Sievers, Sanusha Naidu and Stephen Marks
vii viii
x
Part I Ongoing debates African studies in China: a historiographical survey Li Anshan China in Africa: a maturing of the engagement? Sanusha Naidu Matching China's activities with Africa' s needs
2
25
39
Sanou Mbaye
Part II Macroeconomic dimensions
55
China' s strategic relations with Africa
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Zeng Qiang Chinese development assistance to Africa: aid, trade and debt Nancy Dubosse Trade , investment and legal cooperation between China and Africa Hong Yonghong
70
82
Part III Country case studies
91
Ethio-China relations: challenges and prospects
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Cedion Camora and K. Mathews China' s impact on Kenya's clothing industry Paul Kamau The impact of Chinese imports on Nigerian traders Edwin Ikhuoria The dragon is not green enough: the potential environmental impact of Chinese investment in the DRC Claude Kabemba Disappearing forests , disappearing hope: Mozam bique Daniel Ribeiro The West ' s retreat and China' s advance in Angola Elias Isaac
108 128
139 155
163
Part IV China, the African Union and the quest for peace
175
Th e Darf ur iss ue and Chin a's ro le He We nping Th e role of Chin a in peace and security in Afri ca Desire Assagbavi Th e role and p lace of t he African Un ion in th e eme rging Chin a-Afri ca partn ers hi p Francis Ikam e
176
Part V Perspectives for civil society participation Chin ese pe rce pt ions of Afri can CSOs: how shoul d Afri can CSOs engage Chin a? Xiaa Yuhu a Sin o-Afri can re lati ons: refl ecti ons on civil society engage ment Anton y Otiena Ong 'aya Th e Global En viro nm ental In sti t ute : reg ul atin g t he ecolog ical impact of Chin ese ove rseas ente r prises Zhi Yingbiaa and 8ai Jie Conclusion
194
20 1
2 13 2 14 22 4
24 7
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Chin a-Afri can civil society dialog ue in perspecti ve 256 Axel Harn eit-Sieve r s, Li Ansha n, Sanu sh a Naid u and Stephen Mar ks In dex
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Acknowledgements The 'China- African Civil SOcie ty Dialogue' conference, held in Nairobi in April 2008, has been a wond erful example of constructive cooperation be tween China and Africa. First of all, w e would like to thank all participants - from about 15 differe nt countries on two continents - for their valuable input, much of which has been incorporated into the various contributions to this volume. We also wish to thank Katrin Altmeyer and he r team at the Beijing office of the H einrich Boll Foundation (HBF) who pro vided d ecisive links be tween China and Africa in the pre paration of the conference. A special thank you is extende d to Wanjiku Wakogi and Susan Ndung'u of HBF's Nairobi office, and to H akima Abbas and her team at Fahamu in Nairobi, for organising the logistics and other arrangements that made the conference possible .
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About the contributors Desire Assogbavi is head of Oxfam International's liaiso n office with the Africa Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Bai Jie is with the Global Environmental Institute (GEl), Beijing, China. Nancy Dubosse is head of research of the Economic Governance's Pro gramme, based with the Institute for Democracy in Africa (IDASA) in Pretoria, South Africa. Gedion Gamora completed his master's in p olitical science and international relations in 2007 at Addis Ababa University. He is currently working as a consultant at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Governance and Public Administration Division (GPAD), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Axel Harneit-Sievers is a historian and political scientist specialising in African studies. H e is direc tor of the East Africa/Horn of Africa regional office of the H einrich Biill Foundation, the German Green political foundation, based in Nairobi, Kenya. He Wenping is professor and directo r of the African studies section of the Institute of Wes t Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Acad emy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China. Hong Yonghong is director and professor of the Centre for African Laws and Society (CALS) at Xiangtan University, China. Edwin Ikhuoria is head of communications and advocacy at the National Association of Nigerian Traders. Francis Ikome works with the Institute for Global Dialogue, Midrand, South Africa. Elias Isaac is country programme manager with the Open Society for Southern Africa (OSISA) in Luanda, Angola. Claude Kabemba is the director of the Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW), Johannesburg, South Africa.
Paul Kamau is a research fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Nairobi.
viii
ABOUT THE CONTIBUTORS
Li Anshan is director of the Institute of Afro-Asian Studies at Peking University, Beijing, Chin a. Stephen Marks is coordinator and research associate of Fah amu's China in Afri ca programme, b ased in Oxford, UK. K. Mathews is p rofessor of internation al relations a t A ddis Ababa U ni versity.
Sanou Mbaye is a London-based Senegalese p olitical and econ omic commentator and a form er senior offi cial a t the African Development Bank. Sanusha N aidu is the research direc tor of Fahamu's C hin a in Africa programme, base d in Ste llenbosch, So uth Africa. Antony Otieno Ong' ayo is a PhD fellow at the School of Governan ce, M aastricht University, as well as a research fellow at the European Centre for Development Poli cy M an agem ent (ECDPM). H e is also an associate researcher w ith the Tran sn ation al Institute in Amsterd am. Daniel Ribeiro is one of the founders of and programme offi cer at Ju stica Ambiental, an environmental and social justi ce NGO b ased in Mozambique. Xiao Yuhua is an assistant research er at the Institute of Afri can Studies, Zhejian g Norm al University, Jinhua Province, China. Zeng Qiang is a professor at the China Institute of Co ntemporary Interna tion al Rela tion s, based in Beijing, China. Zhi Yingbiao is with the Global Environmenta l In stitute (G El), Beijin g, C hina.
ix
I ntrod uction Axel Harneit-Sievers, Sanusha Naidu and Stephen Marks Exchanges between Africa and China have grown tremendously in recent years, as has China's economic and political ro le in Africa. China has long-standing links with Africa, but the intensity and diversity of its recent engagement on the continent, driven by the search for resources and markets for its rapidly ex panding economy, is historically unprecedented. The rest of the world is watching with much interest and, sometimes, amazement. A rapid ly increasing need for knowledge and contacts between both sides accompanies the new boom in China-Africa exchanges. Since 2006-07, numerous meetings and conferences have brought together political and economic actors from Africa and China, and this process is likely to continue and even expand in the future. The majority of these contacts take place at the government-to-government level, or within the business communities. Furthermore, Chinese experts on Africa - many of them in policy-consulting functions - often meet Africa's government officia ls or private sector leaders. By contrast, until now there h as been little dialogue between China - both on the policy and expert level - and civil society in Africa, that is, the broad spectrum of non-governmental institutions and organisations around the continent that play such a prominent ro le in African political and intellectual life today. Civil society in Africa has expanded considerab ly since the 1990s, resulting from (and often helpin g to bring about) a return to democracy in many African cou ntries. This has included independent media, university scho lars and research centres, hum an rights and women's organisations, advocacy groups and numerous service-delivery NGOs (non-governmenta l organisations), all of whom play an important role today in Africa's political and socia l reality. They support Africa's political and socia l develop-
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INTRODUCTION
ment and often prov ide a counter-balance to sometimes weak government institution s and authoritarian p oliti cal tradition s. In m any instances, African civil society provides the 'indep endent voice' of Africa. As yet, Chinese actors interested in Africa h ave d one little in practice to acknowled ge the relevance of Africa's civil society, and h ave made even less direct contact and interaction with African representatives. Mean while, m ost African civil society actors sh are the sense of am azem ent about the recent growth of China's ro le in Africa, but h ave little inform ation and even fewer avenues for di alogu e . To be sure, there are some exceptions. The Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University in South Africa provides a platform for research and dialogue." It is largely, but not exclusively, oriented towards high-level exch an ges aro und business and m arket-development issues. Second, there is the 'Asian Drivers' project initiated by the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC),2 headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, which focuses on country case studies on the impact of China's trade, investment and aid footprint in African econ omies. Third, the South African Institute of International Affairs also h as a 'China in Africa project', which essentially draws on a mix between China's economic and political en gagem ents in Africa and the impact this broadly has for Africa's develop m ent prospects. Finally, there are various individual African researchers who are currently undertaking proj ec ts w ith a China slant as it represents the new impetus for d onors and hen ce funding opportunities. What is interesting in all of these studies is that deb ate on China is defined thro ugh eco nomi c imperatives and led by the assumption that only political and eco nomic elites from both sides are the main actors in this en gagem ent. Recognising that an African civil society organisation (CSO) p erspec tive extends beyond the scholarship of academics and p oli cy-makers, Fah amu 3 - a pan-African social justice organisation b ased in Cape Town, South Africa; Dakar, Senegal; Nairobi, Ken ya; and Oxford, UK - has sought to strengthen pan-African voices on China's engagement in Africa. Its prize-winning weekly n ewsletter, Pambaz uka News: provides consistent coverage of a w ide range of topics on social justice in Africa, including regular xi
CHINESE AND AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES ON CHINA IN AFRICA
analyses of China-Africa relationships published in its Emerging Powers in Africa Watch co lumn. The China-Africa programme draws on Fah amu 's 2007 publication African Perspectives on China in Africa,s a valuable collection of essays that provid es insights into the diversity of views held by civil society activists from a varie ty of African co untries on China's role on the continent and in their respective countries, along with the 2008 book China's New Role in Africa and the Global South, which emerged as a result of the dialogue organised between African and Chinese civil society organisations during the African Development Ban k's annual m eeting in Shanghai in May 2007. 6 Both these publications shift the trajectory of the China-Africa debate to bring the CSO p erspective into greater foc us. Although civil society organisations h ave represented very important actors in African politics since the 1990s, a non-governm ental civil society sector is only em ergin g in China. Currently, there are relatively few actors in Chinese civil society interested in and knowled geable abo ut African affairs. Besides a small number of non- governmental organisations, the m ost p rominent among these actors are acad emics b ased at Chinese universities and research institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). Against this b ackgro und, Fahamu and the H einri ch Boll Fo undation's offi ces in Nairobi and Beijing develop ed the idea of a 'China-African Civil Society Dialogue', bringing together Chinese academic exp erts on Africa with representatives of African CSOs and African academics w ho are working in thematic areas with relevant Chinese en gagement. Little exchan ge of this kind had taken place at this pOint, thus the pro gramme provided a unique opportunity for dialogue and deb ate on issu es of mutu al concern, creating an entry pOint for future discussions and research on China-Africa relations. The di alogue workshop took place in Nairobi, Kenya, on 21-22 April 2008, and was supplemented by a visitors' programme and a number of m ore specialised m eetings and forums .7 The dialogue workshop brought together 10 academics from China specialiSing in African studies and working in vario us universities or resear ch and policy-consulting institutions in China with representatives of African CSOs and African academics fr om 15 different co untries. x ii
INTRODUCTION
All of the latter work or specialise in areas where China's engagement in Africa plays an important role. But it was also about en abling a dialogue to ensure that each si de would learn from the other. The dialogue workshop was organised around five m ajor thematic areas: • Mutual p erception s between China and Africa • Chinese trad e and investment in Africa and their econ omic and environmental imp acts • Chinese aid and fin ancial p oli cies • Trade, labour and immigration issues • The role of civil society in Africa and China. The p apers presented and discussions at the plenary critically analysed and so u ght to understand the n ature of China-Africa relations in the context of these broad them es, foc using on patterns and challenges p osed by the relationship. In addition to the them atic p anels, a number of country case studies foc u sed on m ore specific dimen sions - and their interaction - in the relationship between China and Africa. This volume contains pap ers presented at the dialogue workshop , as well as addition al material that emerged in the co urse of the dialogue. Part I of the book prov ides insights into mutual p erceptions between China and Africa, and into their knowledge of each other. In a broad overview article, Li Anshan looks at the develop ment of African studies as an academi c discipline in China since the 1950s. H e demons trates how China's lon g-established interest in Africa has grown conside rably, especially since the 19905, as well as identifying m ain research trend s, sketching p ossible future research agendas and providing a bibliography of important Chinese sch olarly work abo ut Africa. Following on from this, Sanusha Naidu asks whether the d eb ate on China's foo tprint in Africa is reaching maturity. She highlights that forging a new China-Africa consensus must incorporate more than a 'business as usual' approach . Instead she advises that a people-centred approach to development must accomp any this en gagement. Against the background of this differentiated picture, Sanou Mbaye outlines Africa's p olitical xiii
CHINESE AND AFRI CAN PER SPECTIVES ON CHIN A IN AFRI CA
option s for en gagem ent with China and m akes a plea for a common Afri can approach . Contribution s in Part II an alyse the m acroeconomic dimen sion of co ntemporary Sino-African relation s. Zeng Qian g p rovides an overview of the d evelopment of the p olitical and commercial relation s between China and Africa, discu ssing their enorm o us growth since the 1990s w hile identifying systemi c problems su ch as trad e imb alan ces an d issu es of the quality of m anufactured goo d s. Nan cy Dubosse presents the results of a study conducted by AFRO DA D - a network of NCOs working on development fin an ce and lobbyin g for debt relief - and sh ows the differen ces between Ch in a's fin an cial en gagem ent in Africa and that of the West, as well as evaluating how far Chin a's role m ay qu alify as 'aid'. Finally, as Sino-African comm ercial relation s inten sify and become m ore regul arised, H on g Yonghon g argues for greater system ati c coo p eration in the area of law and legal fram eworks. Part III comp rises six co untry studies, focusing on d ifferent dimension s of China's en gagem ent in Africa. Cedion Cam ora and K. M athews an alyse China's relation ship w ith Ethiopia, a p olitical h eavyweight and a country that plays a strategic role in China's African p olicy as a m ajor imp orter of Ch inese m anufactured goo d s. In a case study of the Ken yan textile industry, Paul Kam au shows how Chinese in ves tment forms an integral part of the glob al econom ic integration of East Afri ca while, at the sam e time, Chinese glob al textile exp orts end anger local m anufacturing. For Nigeri a, Ed win Ikhuoria takes the p ersp ective of those w ho profit fro m China's exp ort ex p an sion - local trad ers and consumers able to access ch eap p ro du cts - while also p ointing to widespread problem s su ch as low product quality and 'fake p ro du cts'. Cla ude Kabemb a appreciates China's large scale investments in infrastructure and mining in the Dem ocrati c Republi c of Co n go, w hile p ointing to the high risk of severe en vironmental d am age res ulting from them . Daniel Ribeiro prov ides a case study, set in Mozambique, from a grassroo ts persp ecti ve, which describes the fores t destruction res ulting fr om illegal logging for the east Asian m arket. Examining Angola, Elias Isaac questions large-scale Chinese lending to the co untry's government for infras tructure d evelopment, to be p aid b ack w ith futur e oil exp orts. H owever, Isaac as well as Kabemb a and Ribeiro d o not hold x iv
INTRODUCTION
Chinese comp anies solely responsible if things go wrong. Instead they argue strongly that African governm ents often fail in their responsibility toward s their own societies, lacking transp arency in their use of public fund s and failin g to enforce the environmental standards they h ave set themselves. While Chinese companies take advantage of such d eficiencies, the responsibility to effect improvements lies primarily within Africa itself. In this regard, African CSOs can playa m ajor role in highlighting problems and advocating for change. Part IV an alyses China's growing role in p eace and security on the African co ntinent. He Wenping looks at China's role in Sudan and focuses on the Darfur crisis, argu ably the sin gle most controversial asp ect of China's engagem ent on the continent. While d efending the principle of 'non-interferen ce' in the internal affairs of o ther co untries as a tradition al tenet of Chinese diplom acy, she also shows that China's p olicy h as in fact been resp onsive to international criticism, h aving begun to exert press ure on the Sudanese government and providing supp ort for the jOint United Nations-Afri can Union mission in Sudan. Desire Assogbavi argues that Chinese foreign p olicy sho uld n ot remain stuck on the principle of 'non-interference' in the affairs of other co untries at a time w hen even the African Union has moved 'from non-interference to non-indifference' since 2000. Analysing Sino-African relations from an African Union perspective, Francis Ikhome notes a discrepancy between China's panAfrican rhetori c on the one h an d and the practice of primarily enterin g bilateral agreem ents with single African governments on the other. In ord er to strengthen Africa's negotiating p osition towards China, he argues for a concerted approach at the African Union level. Part V explores the possibilities for an intensified engagement of civil society organisations fr om Africa wi th government institutions, companies and other actors from China. Xiao Yuhua shows h ow little is known in China about' civil society', especially from Africa. H e en co urages African CSOs to interact more sys tematically with China, ad vising them to take proper notice of China's political and cultural sp ecifics at the same time. Antony Otieno Ong'ayo takes up the ch allen ge from an African civil society perspective, asking which typical m odes of interaction of
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CHINESE AND AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES ON CHINA IN AFRICA
African CSOs may also work with regard to China and discussing p ossibilities for joint action between CSOs from both areas. Finally, taking the example of the Global Environmental Institute (GEl), Zhi Yingbiao and Bai Jie describe the mode of op erati on of a Chinese environmental non-governmental organisation working w ith Chinese government institutions to improve the en vironmental standards for Chinese logging companies op erating internationally. They also invite African CSOs to coop erate in this field. The co ncluding section of this volume emphasises that advancing China-Africa civil SOCiety di alogue is significant for m onitoring and shaping the trajectory of the Sino-African relationship, esp ecially on the back of the outcom e of the m ost recent Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) meeting held in Cairo in November 2009. By pursuing jOint efforts and developing mutual understanding, this volume marks the first attempt towards achieving a shared China-Africa civil SOCiety vision of responsibility that can be directed towards holding policy-makers from bo th sides acco untable in achiev ing a sustainable development path in Africa that impacts p OSitively on the livelihoo d s of ordinary African people. Notes 1. http://www.ccs.org.za/. accessed 25 November 2009.
2. http://www.aercafrica .org/, accessed 25 November 2009. 3. http://www. fah am u .org/, accessed 25 N ovember 2009. 4. http://www.pambazuka.org/, accessed 25 November 2009. 5. http://faham ubooks.org!book/ ?GCOI=90638100636300, accessed 25 November 2009. 6. http://fahamubooks.org!book/?GCOI=90638100618100, accessed 25 November 2009. 7. Besides the dialogue wor kshop on 21-22 April 2008, from w hich the majority of the contributio ns to this vo lume are derived, the w ider dialogue programme between 19 and 26 Ap ril 2008 included a stra tegy meeting of A frican CSOs interested in interacting with China as well as a vis itor 's programme for the Chinese acad emic group. The latter included visits to Na irobi-based NGOs and a discuss ion about the crisis after the 27 December 2007 general elections in Kenya, a public lecture on 'China in Africa', a visit to the China Road and Bridge Co., a m eeting w ith representati ves of the Kenyan Foreign Ministry and a workshop on China's relation ship w ith th e
A frican Union.
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Part I Ongoing debates
African studies in China: a historiographical surveyl Li Anshan Afri cani sts outside China are unfamili ar w ith Afri can studi es in C hin a owing to the langua ge barrier and lack of involvem ent in intern ati on al acad emi a by Chinese sc ho lars'> Thi s chapter tries to p rovid e a genera l survey of African studies in C hin a in the 20th century and its contemporary presen ce in C hinese di scou rse . It will also give a general intro du ction to research instituti on s in C hin a and, fin a ll y, o ffer som e thou ghts on p resent studies and a p ersp ec tive on th e future. It tries to cov er the sp ectrum of hi story, p oliti cs, culture and other fi eld s with an an alysis of the factors contributin g to Afri can studies in C hin a. Whil e it mu st be recogni sed th at co ntact between Africa and C hin a dates bac k to the p eri od before Jesu s Chri st - a nd ind ee d to subsequ ent d yn asties su ch as durin g the p eri od 1405-33 when th e C hinese eunuch offici al Zhen g H o led a large fl eet across south-east Asia and the Indi an O cean som e seven times und er the au spi ces of the Min g d yn asty - du e to the con straints of sp ace thi s ch apter w ill sp eci fi ca ll y focu s on th e p erio d after 1949 w hen the new Chinese com muni st state was born.
Supporting Africa (1949-65) During the republican period (1 911-49), Africa was seldom to uched. This is because m ost of Africa was under colonial rule and h ad no political status in internation al affairs, w hile China itself was undergoing a ch ao tic experien ce. Moreover, few people were interested in Africa. The fir st book on Africa b y a Chinese scholar was Wu Zuncun and Xie Defeng's Ethiopia, published in 1936. The fo unding of the People's Republi c of China in 1949 was an important p art of n ational liberation movem ents across the world 2
AFRICAN STUDIES IN CHINA
after the Second World War. African studies began in the late 1950s and concentrated on the nationalist indep endent movements. Booklets were published, m ostly on indep endence movements in North Africa. A few academic journals had articles on the stru ggles against colonial rule in different countries (N a Zhong 1957; Zheng Daochu an 1957; Ma Ton g 1959; Wan g Junyi 1959; Wan g Zhen 1959), or the n ation alist m ovements in Africa as a w hole. Two universities were pioneers in African studies. Nankai University in north China started to probe North Africa, w hile the South China Normal University began to study Central Africa. 3 Leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) en co uraged African studies. On 27 April 1961, Chairman Mao Zedon g m et a gro up of African and Asian friends in Beijing." H e admitted that h e h ad n o clear understanding of Africa and called for an institute of Africa to be established that wo uld focus on the' stud ying [of] African history, geography and [the] so cio-economic situation' (Mao Zedon g 1994, p . 465) and an understanding of African political p rocesses under imperialism and the struggle for indep endence. This, Mao encouraged, should be done with the assistance of African scholars to produ ce a concise publication. On 4 July 1961, the Institute of Asian-African Studies under the Internation al Department of the CCP and the Chinese Academy of Sciences was founded. Zhan g Tiesheng, an expert on Sino-African relation s, was appointed as the first director of the institute. On 30 December 1963, the Group of Foreign Affairs of the Central Committee of the CCP issued a rep ort on strengthening the study of foreign co untries. Accordingly, three institutes in three different universities were se t up speCifically for the study of foreign countries. Pekin g University was chosen to set up the Institute of Afro-Asian Studies, in light of its solid b ase in the humanities and social sciences.' Peking University also had the advantage of h ousing the Dep artment of Oriental Studies, w hich covered various lan gu ages spoken in Afro-Asian countries. Ji Xianlin, a scholar who receive d his PhD in German y, became the director of the institute. Professor Yan g Renpian of the dep artment of history, who received hi s degree in France, switched from French history to African history and b egan to train graduate students of African history. Different institutions were also involved in African studies, 3
CHINESE AND AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES ON CHINA IN AFRICA
and the most prominent was the Institute of Asian-African Studies under the dual leadership of the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the CCP and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (which subsequently became the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in 1981). African Introduction, prepared especially for the purpose of Premier Zhou Enlai's visit to Africa, was published by the institute and internally circulated among government departments. The institute also had two Neibu Kanwu (internally circulated journals), Yafei Yicong (translations on Asia and Africa, started in 1959) and Yafei Ziliao (data on Asia and Africa, started in 1963). An impressive aspect of African studies was the introduction of international scholarship, including books, conferences, institutions and studies. The works were published in the two journals mentioned above, which served as a major channel for Chinese scholars to familiarise themselves with African studies abroad. 6 The translation of books generally included four types: works by African nationalist leaders; academic works by western or Russian scholars; reports to government; and popular readers.7 Some books were chosen specifically for an understanding of the contemporary situation, such as The African Awakening (Davidson 1955) and Les Trusts au Congo (Joye and Lewin 1961). As for the Chinese scholars' works, two important books are worth mentioning: History of Sino-African Relations: A Primary Research (Zhang Tiesheng 1963) and A Concise History of Modern Egypt (Na Zhong 1963). Zhang's work is a compilation of five articles on SinoAfrican relations from the Han dynasty to Ming dynasty, covering China's contact with East and North Africa and contact through the sea route. A graduate from the University of Alazhar in Egypt in the 1940s, Na Zhong studied Egyptian history from the ancient period up to the Second World War. Linked to political orientation, Chinese African studies in this period were pragmatic rather than academic. China strongly supported the national liberation movements and wanted to win new friends from African nations. 8 It was departments of history at universities that took the lead. The reason for this was that both anthropology and political science were regarded as 'capitalist' in China at the time. Studies were generally done collectively and concentrated on national independence move4
AFRICAN STUD IES IN CH INA
ments or anti-co lonialist struggles." China also drew on the emphasis of African studies, which had gained in momentum in other parts of the globe.
Understanding Africa (1966-76) During the Cultural Revolution (1966--76), China suffered a setback in its intellectual life. Universities closed for several years, and later enro lled students according to their 'political performance'. There were few studies on foreign issues. All cu ltural life was manoeuvred or contro lled by political need, and some elements were used in the struggle of particular political factions. High education was used 'to consolidate the proletarian dictatorship'. The study of social sciences and hum anities was almost stopped. Yet surprisingly, African studies continued in China. The International Department of the CCP had its own section to study Africa and to provide support to African liberation movements. Various studies by this section contributed a great deal to decision-making at the central leve l. A few publications were on ly accessible at a certain level. The section concen trated more on information collection or data ana lysis than academic research. In 1971 two important events occurred which indi cated that China had ended its political isolation and was returning to the international community: the beginning of the normalisation of Sino-American relations and the entry of the People's Republic of China into the United Nations. Owing to a long-time neglect of cu ltural issues, the Central Committee of the CCP realised the serious problem in the academic field. A nationwide meeting of publishing companies was held in 1971, organised by the State Council, which decided to publish important books of history such as the 24 classic histories of every dynasty in Chinese history and the history of republican China. In order for leaders at different levels to understand foreign affairs, histories or general surveys of different countries were translated. This extensive project covered almost all the countries of the world and continued into the 1980s. As regards Africa, histories of different countries were translated, together with areas such as black Africa, North Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, West Africa, southern Africa and the Mascareignes islands. 5
CH INESE AND AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES ON CH IN A IN AFRICA
The purpose of the project was not for academia; the translations were purely for government use. As China opened up however, all the books were sold publicly. As a format, every translation had a preface of criticism of the content by the translator, a measure to protect the translator as well as to warn the reader. This is a typical feature of the Cultural Revolution, a result of the persecution of intellectuals. Related to this, translations were generally done by a group rather than by an individual, so that if anything went wrong, responsibility would be taken collectively.'° In the period 1967-78, 117 books on Africa were published, 111 were translations, five were pop ular readers and one a reference book. In other words, 95 per cent of the books were translated from other languages (Zhang Yuxi 1997, p. 272-73).
Studying Africa (1977-2000) After the fall of the 'Gang of Four', university life resumed l l The period 1977-2000 was a most productive time for African studies. There are three branches of African studies in Chin a: universities, academic institutions and institutions attached to government ministries. There are two nationwide organisations of African studies in China: the Chinese Association of African Studies (CAAS) (1979) and the Chinese Society of African Historical Studies (CSAHS) (1980). The Institute of West Asian and African Studies of the CASS established the Centre for South African Studies in 1995, followed by the Centre for African Studies at Peking University in 1998 and the Centre for African Law Studies at Xiangtan University, also in 1998. Nanjing University has a research group specialising in African geography, Yunnan University has a group speciali sing in African studies and
Table 1 Publications in African studies in China Monograph Before 1949 1949-66
6
Popular reader
Reference
Total
35
6
111
14
10
1967-78 1979-94
Translation
60
19
111 41
68
117 48
9
166
AFRICAN STUDIES IN CHINA
Zhejiang Normal University recently established a Centre for the Study of African Edu cation. From the end of the 1970s, articles in acad emic journals generally covered three topi cs: 1) The primary resistance or resistan ce during the colonial p eriod, su ch as the Mahdi m ovem ent in Sudan, the Ethiopi an war against the Italian invasion, the M aji Maji uprisin g in Tan ganyika and the Ma u Mau in Kenya; 2) African n ation alist m ovements since the First World War; and 3) Important fi gures, either am on g the first generation of nation alists such as Felix H oupho uet-Boign y, Kwame Nkrum ah, Gnassingbe Eyaciem a, Robert Mugabe, Kenneth Dav id Kaund a, Quett K.J. M asire, Leop old Sedar Senghor, Muammar al-Gaddafi, Ahmed Seko u To ure and Habib Bourguiba, or influential fi gures w ho m ad e stro ng co ntributions to the lib eration m ovem ent such as Mar cus Garvey, W.E.B. Du Bois, George Pad m ore and Frantz Fan on. During the 1980s, African studies m ad e m ore p rogress . Several text books and m onographs were published (Zhao Shuhui 1981; Xun Xingqiang 1983; Yang Renpian 1984; CSAHS 1984; Zen g Zungu et al 1984; Yang Haochen g 1985; Lu Ting-en 1986; Chen Zhon gd e and Wu Zhaoji 1987; Tan g Dadun 1988). In the Mysterious Chiefdom is the fir st book about a black African country by a Chinese wh o had p ersonally been there. The author studied Cameroon and listed two impo rtant laws regarding the status of the chief (Yang Ron gjia 1986). Chinese scholars also began to switch their interest to sp ecific topics. Lu Ting-en used various d ata to show David Livingston e's dual roles in the exploration of Africa. Wu Bingzh en, Xu Jiming and others studied the slave trade, esp ecially its links to early capitalist d evelopment in Africa. Wu also criticised John Fage's view on the slave trad e. Qin Xiaoying touched on a sensitive subject: the n ational bourgeoisie's role in liberation movements. The CCP tradition generally d enied the positive role of the national bourgeoisie, which was the target of the proletarian revolution . Using Kenya as an example, Qin argued that the nation al b o ur geoisie co uld play an active role in the anti-colonialist struggle. Wang Chunliang made the same paint in his study on the nationalist m ovement in Zaire. Li Anshan tried to analyse the formation, ch aracteristics and the role of the m o dern intellectual in West Africa. 7
CHINESE AND AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES ON CHINA IN AFRICA
The study of Africa was greatly promoted in the period 1990-2000. Monographs (Liang Gencheng 1991; Shu Yunguo 1996; Ai Zhouchang and Mu Tao 1996; Luo Jianguo 1996; Xia Jisheng 1996; Lu Ting-en and Liu Jing 1997; Liu Hongwu 1997) and historical materials (Ai Zhouchang 1989; Pan Guang and Zhu Weilie 1992; Tang Dad un 1995) were published. South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana (Chen Zhongdan 2000) are included in the study of the British Commonwealth, and in the History of Colonialism the volume Africa was published (Zheng Jiaxing 2000). A three-volume history of Africa was published in 1996 as a collective work by the CSAHS (He Fangchuan and Nin Shao 1996; Ai Zhouchang and Zheng Jiaxing 1996; Lu Ting-en and Peng Kunyuan 1996). Chinese scholars tried to synthesise their earlier work. The first systematic study of African nationalist movements was published, the best part of the work being that it also covered Portuguese colonialism (Wu Bingzheng and Gao Jinyuan 1993). The first case study in African history in China was on southern Ghana, and an English version was published later (Li Anshan 1998a, 2000). During the 1990s, African studies in China focused on several subjects, such as socialism, democratisation, the ethnic issue, international relations, South Africa, cultural studies, economic studies and Sino-African relations. With the coming of the third wave of democracy, the question of what would be the future of African socialism became the focus of inquiry. As a collective project, A New Analysis of African Socialism began from 1989 and involved 16 scholars. It discussed the origins, development and typology of African socialism and compared different forms of socialism in Africa. It was argued that socialism contributed a great deal to the consolidation of national independence, the building of national culture and the control of the national economy, along with raising greatly the status of African countries in the world political arena. Socialism in Africa was, however, not successful, and the decline of the movement was due to several factors: the internal factor (the forces of production and internal policy), the impact of the decline of the socialist bloc of Soviet and East Europe, and pressure from western countries. Socialist countries had three options: dropping out, self-adjustment and democratic socialism. According to the author, the rise of democratic socialism in Africa is inevitable (Tang Dadun et aI1994). 8
AFRICAN STUDIES IN CHINA
There was a debate around the process of African democratisation. Some have considered internal demand for a more democratic society as the major cause for the process (Xu Jiming and Tan Shizhong 1998). Their explanation for disturbances during democratisation was either the natural outbreak of long-time oppression and mal-governance or new conflicts generated from the process itself. Others have regarded democratisation in Africa as the result of both the decline of the Soviet bloc and pressure from western countries, and indeed argued that western-style democracy does not fit the African reality (Cui Qinglian 1995; Lu Ting-en 1995). The ethnic issue is another topic of debate. There has been heated discussion among Chinese scholars on the use of the term 'tribe' and 'tribalism' (Wu Zengtian 1996; Li Anshan 1998b). Some think that the use of 'tribe' is appropriate, while others consider it a derogatory term and prefer to use 'nationalism' or 'local nationalism' instead. Yet all agree that the ethnic conflict has been an obstacle to nation-building in Africa. Also in the 1990s, South Africa became a topic of major interest in China, especially following the normalisation of Sino-South African diplomatic relations. The 'African renaissance' project also aroused interest among Chinese scholars. Even before the normalisation of relations, both sides set up a research centre in each other's capitals, playing a role of semi-diplomatic affairs and also promoting academic exchange between China and South AfricaY Biographies and autobiographies of Nelson Mandela and his ex-wife Winnie Mandela were written or translated (Yang Lihua 1995; Wen Xian 1995). Several books on South Africa were published in the late 1990s, covering politics, the economy, ethnic relations and modernisation (Yang Lihua et al 1994; Ge Jie 1994; Chen Yifei 1994; Zhu Chonggui et al 1994; Xia Jisheng 1996; Xia Jisheng et al 1998; Zhang Xiang 1998; Ai Zhouchang et al 2000). Equally, Chinese scholars have been working to introduce the study of Africa in other parts of the world to China's academia, while the number of PhD students pursuing African studies has been growing since the late 1990s.
9
CHINESE AND AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES ON CHINA IN AFRICA
New interests and achievements: beyond 2000 Since the end of the 20th century, the world h as focused on ChinaAfrica relations. This trend has had som e imp act on Afri can studies in China. With the expansion of China-Africa relations w here China's trad e with African countries has increased drama tically, African studies is facing ne w opportunities and challen ges. On the one hand the discipline is pro gressing, but on the o ther it d oes not seem to be catching up with the fast-changing nature of the en gagem ent, nor d oes it appear to be m ee ting the needs of socie ty at large, especially those of exp anding Chinese enterprises in Africa . A ccording to sta tistics, in the period 2000- 05, 232 boo ks on or about Africa were published. If we include bo oks published in 2006- 07, the total number w o uld reach 300 during this pe rio d, including transla tions. These boo ks co ver a wide r an ge of fields such as religio n, politics, foreign affairs, law, econom y, culture, Table 2 Classification of articles on specific African countries (1997-2005)* Subject!
Egypt
Ethiopia
Kenya
Nigeria
country
South
Total
Africa
Politics and law
42
2
15
31
118
208
Economics
107
31
41
44
201
424
Foreign
61
14
6
43
127
20
22
33
39
7
79
affairs Ethnicity Re ligion
2 15
20
Military History and archaeology
68
Culture
44
2
15
19
99
179
Socie ty
10
6
25
10
67
118
Important
9
2
27
40
361
63
620
1256
figures
Total
101
111
11 Some adju stment has been made in order to make the classification more adequate.
10
AFRICAN STUD IES IN CH INA
history, geography and ethnology. In 2006, the Institute of West Asian and African Studies (IWAA) of the CASS, the Chinese Society of African Historical Studies and the Centre for African Studies at Peking University published a bibliography of African studies in China (1997-2005). The result showed that besides books, more than 4,000 articles had been published in more than 800 journals. As Table 2 indicates, five countries attracted the most attention, with articles focusing on those countries accounting for more than one quarter of the total (Chen Hong and Zhao Ping 2006). This classification is not strictly defined, since, for example, ethnicity and religion or politics may be intertwined, just as culture and society are. Geography is usually classified in either society or culture since it is linked to tourism, heritage and the environment. This notwithstanding, we can see from the statistics that articles on economics stand out as the most popular in the list for all five countries, reflecting China's focus today. There are more works on politics and law or foreign affairs for Ethiopia and Nigeria. History occ upies second place in Egypt since Egyptology is included in the subject. The fact that the majority of works on culture and society are for South Africa indicates that more Chinese have visited this co untry. The most striking feature is that writing abo ut South Africa is at the top of the list, with 620 items. Another remarkable feature is graduate theses, with 238 MA and PhD theses altogether and 73 titles about Africa in general, including 17 on politics, 13 on economics, 26 on foreign affairs, 12 on history and 5 on culture. As for theses on the issues of particular regions, there are four on East Africa, seven on West Africa and two
Table 3 Statistics on graduate theses on African countries (1981-2005) Egypt Kenya Nigeria Mali South Africa Sudan
35 2 18
36 5
Somalia Cameroon Congo-Brazzaville Lesotho Libya
1
2 2
Tanzania Benin Democratic Republic of Congo Madagascar Algeria Uganda Togo Mozambique Mauritius Morocco
Burundi Ghana
Botswana 4 3 4 2 1
Zimbabwe Ethiopia Niger Cote d'ivoire Zambia
1
2 2 2 4
7 2 Total
152
11
CHINESE AND AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES ON CHINA IN AFRICA
on southern Africa. As for individ ual co untries, according to Table 3 there are 152 titles on 29 countries. Again, South Africa comes out on top, with 36 theses (Chen Hon g and Zhao Ping 2006). This current interest in China-Africa relations is also being supp orted by various conferences, workshops and symposiums on the top ic. These are bein g coor dinated and undertaken by various institutions.
Institutions: old and new The Institute of West Asian and Afri can Studies (IWAA) of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is th e largest institute involved in African studies in China. The institute was ori ginally set up on 4 July 1961 with the name of the Institute of Asian African Studies and was governed jOintly by th e Intern ational Department of Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which subsequently became known as the CASS in 1981. The institute has been a lea din g unit in African research in China. In recent years, it has contributed a grea t dea l to the stud y of Africa in terms of holdin g conferences, publishin g an aca demic jou rnal and an annu al report on the Middle East and Africa, producing an encyclopedi a and organisin g the compilation of its Guides to World States series 13 The institute also takes th e lead in chairing the work of the Chinese Association of African Studies, set up in 1979. In ad diti on to aca d emi c research, the sc holars of the institute also t ake an active role in consultative work for the governm ent. Another two government institutions, the China Institute of Interna ti on al Studies and the China Institute of Contemporary Internati onal Relations, are also involved in African studies. Peking University started its academic exchange with Africa immedi atel y after 1949 with bilateral, scholarly v isits between China and Egypt. Established in 2000, the Centre for African Studies at Peking University organised a ' Nati onal conference of universities' teachin g, research on and aid to Africa' on 13-14 December 2006, with p articipan ts from universities, instituti ons and various government mini stries. Contributions to it covered different aspects of studying Africa, includin g teachin g experiences, research resu lts and trainin g seminars. Since 2000, the 12
AFRICAN STUDIES IN CHINA
centre has published a series of books on different topics (Centre for African Studies 2000, 2002; Lu Ting-en et al 2005; Li Baoping et aI2006). With the increase in China-Africa relations, an African studies group was set up by students at Peking University in 2007 which has organised several activities, including expert lectures and African students introducing their countries. The African Students Association at the same university has likewise organised several seminars to discuss China-Africa relations, attracting African students from other universities. There are several centres for African studies at universities in China, such as Nanjing University, Yunnan University, Shanghai Normal University, Xiangtan University, Zhejiang Normal University, Suzhou University, Nanjing Agriculture University, Nanchang University and Tianjin University of Technology and Education. The Centre for African Law and Social Studies in Xiangtan University was established in 1998, and since then it has been very active in the study of African law. In 2006, the centre held an international seminar entitled 'Law and socio-economic development in Africa' with 15 participants from six African countries. It has published several books on law and a number of articles in academic journals. Zhejiang Normal University set up the Centre for African Education in 2003, which held the first China-Africa 'University Presidents' Forum' with 30 presidents from 14 African universities. In order to promote African studies, in 2007 the university set up a new Institute of African Studies with a vision of building up a platform for experts to carry out academic exchanges and undertake systematic and comprehensive research on Africa. Recently the research centre for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was also established. In order to implement the principles of FOCAC, the Ministry of Education decided to establish speCial centres for the mission. In 2003, the first centre for national educational assistance for Africa under the Ministry of Education was set up in Tianjin University of Technology and Education, followed by a further three in 2004 and six others in 2008, a development certain to enhance academic exchange between Chinese and African universities.
13
CHINESE AND AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES ON CHINA IN AFRICA
Conclusion and afterthoughts African studies in China is gradually transforming from a political co ncentra tion to an academic orie ntation. The quality associated with the discipline is improving, advancing from mere introductions to m ore specific and d etailed studies. Academic ex changes are takin g pl ace between China and the world, gradually bringing China into international academia. With the opening-up o f China and an increasing need to d evelo p knowledge abo ut the African co ntinent, African studies in China is certain to be promo ted. 14 Ye t there are challenges. The bibliography included within this ch ap ter reveals tha t fe w original studies s upp orted by fi eld work have been d one.IS Not a single Chinese anthropologist has been to Africa specifically for study. There is no African lan g uage study save for training purposes 16 N either the CAAS nor the CSAHS has its own jo urnal. 17 Moreover, Chinese scholars seldom h ave their research published in English-lan g u age jo urnals and publi catio ns. There are several core features around African studies in China a t the current time. With the increase in m o nographs, m ore acad e mics now conce ntrate on the present situation from a p olitical, economic, African cultural or social p erspective, with an economic perspective the m ost common. South Africa is the m os t studied state among African co untries, some thing which indicates the m ore active exchange between China and South Africa. Seve r al se ries were published to cover Africa o r related topics, such as the Yellow Book of International Politics, Guides to World States, China-Africa Series, British Commonwealth Countries, Diplomats Look at the World and the Chinese Diplomat Series. This shows the openness of the Chinese pres s and related policies. Equally, yo ung scholars are m a turing, bringing with the m a broad knowledge and be tte r und ersta nding of Africa. Gradually playing a m ore promine nt part in inte rnation al acad emia, the availability of Chinese scholars' works in English is incr easing and their vie ws are progressively catching internatio nal a tte ntion. Finally, with m ore and more Chinese going to Africa, there are more and more books by a uthors writing about their exp eriences in Africa. At the beginning o f the 21st century, the Chinese government called for a grand diplomacy, requiring multifaceted effort: 'It 14
AFRICAN STUDIES IN CHINA
is recognisable that there should be more cooperation between practical work and acad emic research. The government needs information, analysis and assessment, while acad emi a needs fundin g, stimulus and feedback' (Li Anshan 2005 ). The situation is chan ging dramatically with more academics invo lved in consultation and policy-makin g. With the strengthening of China's soft power in general and the exp ansio n of China's en gagem ent in Africa in p articular, there will be more opportunities for Chinese Africanists. Yet real scholars are those w ho can bear the solitude. Whether idealistic or not, Chinese Africanists should do more solid work if they are to m ake a big leap forward in their study of Africa. The study of Africa in China is promising, but need s yet more effort and har d work. Notes 1. This is a revised version o f two of my articles 'African s tudi es in China in the twentie th century: a historiographica l s urvey' (African Studies Review,
48:1, A pril 2005) and 'Gii studi africanistici in Cina agli ini zi d el XXI secolo' (Afriche e Orienti, no. 2, 2008, as part of the collection La Cina in Africa, ed ited by C ristia na Fia mingo). I would like to thank the tw o jo urnals for the ir permission to publish the articles e lsewhere. My thanks also goes to Katrin Altmeyer, the director of the H einrich Boll Foundation, Beijing office, and Axel Harne it-Sievers, th e directo r o f the H e inrich Boll Foundation, East A fri ca office, for providing this opportuni ty to s hare m y know ledge w ith A fri can colleagues.
2. In the 20th century few C hinese A fri ca nists p ublished forma l a rticles in English in the wes tern world (Gao Jiny uan 1984; He Fangc huan 1987; Li An shan, 1994, 1995, 1996; Ge Jie 1997). 3. In the la te 1950s, the Departme nt of History a t Na nkai Uni vers ity published several articles o n natio nal ind ependence movem en ts in Tunisia, Morocco, Libya and A lgeria in Ushi Jiaxue (Teaching History). The Department
of History at South China Normal U ni verSity published articles on Congo a nd Ca meroon in ZhongxlIe Ushi JiaoxlIe (Teaching Histo,'Y in Middle School) . 4. They were from the followi ng countries: Guinea, Jord a n, South Africa, Senegal, North Rhodesia, Uga nda and Kenya (Mao Zed ong 1994, p. 463 a nd p . 465). For the names of the participants, see Mao Zedong 1996, p. 478, note l. 5. The People's UniverSity in Beijing was chosen for the study of socialist countries, w hile Fudan University in Shanghai was chosen for the stud y of cap italist countries .
6. Take the articles published in Yafei Yi cong, for example. Conferences include: 'The first international Africanist conference', 1963, no. 2; 'Selections o f the s peCial re po rts o f the firs t interna ti o nal Africanist conference', 1963,
15
CHINESE AND AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES ON CHINA IN AFRICA no. 3; 'The fifth an nual confe rence of African Studies Associatio n in the U.S.', 1963, no. 3; 'Special reports and articles presented by delegations in the first international Africanist conference: 1963, no. 4; 'Academic confe rences in East Africa', 1963, no. 10. Institutions include: 'About the Institute of Afri ca n Studies at University of Ghana', 1962, no. 5; 'Introduction of the Institute of African Studies in Spa in', 1963, no. 7; 'Introd u ction of the Institute of Afri ca n Studies in Italy', 1963, no. 8; 'Introduction of the Department of A frican Studies at Delhi University in India', 1963, no. 9; 'Institute of African Studies in Uni versity of Edinburgh', 1964, no. 2; 'The origi n of the Institute of African Studies in Japan', 1964, no. 4; 'Institute of Ethiopian Stud ies a t Addis Ababa', 1964,no. 6; 'The Institute of African studies in France', 1964, no. 11; 'The Institute of African Studies in H olland ', 1964, no. 12; 'Centre for Afri can Studies a t University of London', 1965, no. 8. Studies include: 'African studies in Wes t Germany', 1963, no. 4; 'Recent African studies in the USSR', 1963, no. 6; 'The project of Africa n studies and coord ination of Ford Founda tion in the U.s.', 1965, no. 3; 'A frican studies at H oover Institute of Stanford Uni versi ty', 1965, no. 5. 7. Around 60 books were transla ted during this period, among them 29 from the USSR and Eastern Europea n countries. In other words, a lmost half were translated from Russian or related lang uages (Zhang Yuxi 1997, p. 260). 8. The relationship between China and Afri ca during the 1960s is a very important topic. Besid es the works mentioned below, former Minis te r of Foreign A ffairs Qian Qichen published his m emoir recentl y, which included a w hole cha pter on A fri ca. See Qian Q ichen 2003, pp. 243-87. 9. In 1965, the Institute of Asian African Studies (w hich la te r became the Institute of Wes t Asia n a nd African Studies, the CASS) decided that the stud y s hould be concentra ted on fi ve fie lds: the d evelopment a nd characteris tics o f the contempo rary nationa l libera tion movement; the contemporary socia-economic situation wi th a focus on the s tructure of social classes; th e bourgeo is id eology of nati o nalis m; the rev is io nis ts' false v iew points abo ut the national liberatio n movement; and the policy o f imperialist countries towards the na tional libera tion movement (Institute o f
West Asia n a nd Afri ca n Studies 2001, p. 9). 10. Such as the Shandong University Transla tion Gro up, or the Shanghai Foreign Language School Translation Group. 11. Jiang Q ing, Wa ng H ongwen, Zha ng Chunqiao a nd Yao Wen yua n formed a politica l clique durin g the Cultural Revolution. They were rega rd ed as ultra-leftists and were very unpopular in C hina. Their d ownfall represented the end of the C ultura l Revolution. 12. For example, Professor Ken Smith, the chair of the Dep artment of History at UN ISA (Uni versity of South Afri ca), visited Peking Universi ty on a trip arranged by Leslie Labuschagne, the director o f th e South Afr ican Centre for Chinese Studies in Beijing at the time. 13. Recentl y, it organ ised several important internatio nal conferences related to A frica, s uch as 'China and Afri ca : shared d evelopment' (December 2006), co-orga nised with the UK Department for International Development
16
AFRICAN STUDIES IN CHINA (DFID), and th e 'Interna tio na l conference o n China-Sud an relations' (Jul y 2007), co-o rga nised w ith th e Centre for Foreig n Policy Analysis, UK. 14. In October 1997, the Chinese Society of A frican Historica l Studies held its co nference in Beida ihe. Li A nshan a nd Liu Hongwu were requested by the socie ty to draft a letter to President Jiang Zemin, emphasising the importance of A fri can s tudies . The lette r was la ter sent to the president, w ho comm e nted o n th e iss ue, 'In recent yea rs, I have stressed many times that the work on A frica s ho uld be taken very serio us ly. This iss ue s hould be paid g reat attentio n to, no t o nl y in po litics, but a lso in th e d evelopm ent of economic cooperat ion. The Centra l Com mittee and the related units of th e State Council s ho uld all suppo rt this work' (Chen Go ngyua n 2000, p. 244). 15. This is also linked to th e attitude of Chinese acad emia towa rd s a nthro po logy, a discipline that w as for a lo ng time regard ed as biased and restored only in the early 1980s. 16. H a usa and Swahili a re tau g ht in two uni versities in Beijing, m a inl y for the training o f pe rsonnel fo r Xi nhu a News Agency a nd o ther media. 17. West Asia and Africa is a journal run by the Institute of Wes t As ian and A fri ca n Studi es, CASSoStarted in 1980 as a n internall y circulated jo urnal, it became openl y published w ithin China in 1981. It beca m e ava ilable to readers both at ho m e and abroad from A u gu s t 1982. West Asia and Africa has s ince served as the m ajor acad emic jo urn al for A fri can s tudi es in China.
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