Hairong Yan

The forest for the trees : trade, investment, and the China-in-Africa discourse

* We thank the Hong Kong Research Grants Council for its generous support. 1 See Maxi Schoeman, “China in Africa: the Rise of a Hegemony?” in China and Africa: Partners in Development and Security?, Danish Institute of International Affairs, Copenhagen, 23 August 2007. 2 Ironically, the discourse is most developed in the US, yet the US stood alone in refusing to recognize a right to development when the United Nations adopted it in 1998. “US Votes Against Development as Basic Human Right,” Inter Press Service (IPS), 10 December 1998. 3 “Patron of African Misgovernment,” New York Times (NYT), 19 February 2007. 4 See, e.g., Yaroslav Trofi mov, “In Africa, China’s Expansion Begins to Stir Resentment,” Wall Street Journal (WSJ), 2 February 2007. The Forest for the Trees: Trade, Investment and the China-in-Africa Discourse

Chasing Ghosts: Rumours and Representations of the Export of Chinese Convict Labour to Developing Countries

A recent addition to the global discourse of China’s interaction with developing countries has been the claim that the Chinese government exports prison labour to these countries. While no evidence is ever presented to support this claim, it has been widely circulated in international and local media, as well as on the internet. This article examines the origins of the rumour and the mechanisms of its transmission. It shows that while the rumour often originates at the grass roots in developing countries, it is promoted locally and globally by political, economic and media elites with distinct agendas that often involve building support for opposition parties, competition in obtaining contracts, or geo-strategic and ideological rivalry. We analyse the rumour’s circulation in light of the larger discourse on China and developing countries, and discuss why Chinese official responses to the claim have proved to be ineffective.

Chinese and ‘self-segregation’ in Africa

ABSTRACT Chinese are often said to ‘self-segregate’ in Africa. Chinese ethnocentricity is typically offered as an explanation for the putative non-interaction. Meanwhile Chinese are not compared to other non-indigenous people in Africa, implying unique Chinese self-isolation. Due to China’s semi-peripheral dynamics however, the contemporary Chinese presence in Africa cannot be generalized into a single category. Based on surveys, interviews, and documents, we examine the varied presence of Chinese in Africa, including residential patterns acquisition of local African languages, and socialization patterns, and draw distinctions between Chinese expatriates and Chinese migrants. Factors affecting Chinese adaptation include local political environment, recentness of migration, language barriers, and corporate policies to mitigate crime and conflict. We argue that most Chinese in Africa are not self-isolated and not more isolated in Africa than are other Asian migrants and whites there. Claims of Chinese self-isolation reflect a longstanding, global Yellow Peril discourse that persists despite discrediting evidence.