By George Musiime
As an African with an interest in China Africa Cooperation, many times I come across information that seeks to discredit and undermine China-Africa friendship. Indeed it is very easy for someone living in Africa to believe that the concept of China-Africa friendship is a smokescreen covering an ulterior motive. More so, as a Ugandan and an African I would understand why some might even be tempted to question China’s intentions in Africa given the level of negative publicity that comes from without the presets of this friendship; alluding to neo-colonialism, debt trap diplomacy et cetera. Luckily, I was blessed with the opportunity to experience this friendship from outside the African viewpoint during my visit to China, for the 8th China-Africa Youth Festival. From this experience, to realize the vision of a China-Africa community with a shared future, Africa needs not only right Information but also significant introspection before making judgment based on the information we are constantly bombarded with.
A long shared history. Many a times when Chinese involvement in Africa is discussed, we are made to believe as though China-Africa interactions are just being incepted while in fact this is not true. Some of the oldest recorded history of China-Africa interactions are from 600 years ago during the Voyages of Admiral Zheng He who reached the east African coast in the 14th century. While he made several Voyages to the East African coast, with a huge fleet Admiral Zheng was never a threat. As a matter of fact, his voyages were never about conquest or colonization. Moreover, it has been documented that he instead used the might of the Chinese military to suppress pirates on the course of his Voyages. In one of his inscriptions, the Admiral is quoted to have written that “…because of this, the sea routes became pure and peaceful and the foreign peoples could rely upon them and pursue their occupations in safety.” This alone is testament of China’s earliest commitment to global peace, security, and common prosperity. Otherwise, given the size and sophistication of the fleet he commanded, he could have chosen a different path. His voyages have indeed been described as diplomatic in nature and he is known to have brought foreign envoys to the Ming court as a way of building even stronger cooperation between China and the nations he sailed to.
The role of language in global cooperation. Language has for so long been known to foster mutual respect, understanding and tolerance. My experience in China literally blew out of the water the idea that China intends to use the teaching of the Chinese language in Africa as an inroad to future colonization and I’ll illustrate here. During my stay in Beijing I was constantly in contact with young Chinese that were fluent in many foreign languages and it was indeed fascinating to find young people that were fluent in indigenous African languages. I particularly had interesting conversations with two Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) students who were fluent in Swahili. For a nation as powerful as China with the added advantage of all its 1.4 billion citizens speaking a Unifying language, there would be no reason to train its young people in foreign languages unless there was a strong commitment to building cooperation and mutual understanding. In fact the study of indigenous African languages and language exchanges might become the glue that holds together the China-Africa community with a shared future. Therefore, contrary to the mainstream narrative, other than work to interest Africa into its own culture, China and the Chinese people are taking a keen interest in African Culture as well.
Aside from the language exchange programs, I was also honored to visit the Institute of African Studies at the Zhejiang Normal University where, I learnt that this Institute had by far the most prominent program on African studies in the whole country . In fact the Institute is home to a museum where artifacts of African culture are curated in an effort to preserve the culture but also to give their students from different cultures an experience in the diverse culture of the African continent. At the museum, even I, was exposed to aspects of African culture I had not experienced before despite living on the continent. This effort fits in very well with the Dar-Es-salaam Consensus which called for the adoption of the Global Civilization Initiative advocating for the respect of the different cultures of the world. Exposure to the diversity of world cultures is indeed a means to prepare the students for a smooth transition into the global community of humanity with a shared future.
This experience was further extended to the Zhejiang Guangsha Vocational and technical University of Construction where I was guided through the different projects by students present and past as well as the stories behind them. A tour of these institutions was an eye opener to me and I believe for many of my colleagues because it told a different story; one of the enduring friendship but also of the China’s keen interest in preserving the same. It was indeed refreshing to see first hand that other than try to water-down African culture, China is, if anything serving as a curator and guardian of a significant potion of African heritage. Throughout my stay, there was at every turn something to remind me that my culture was always close which also tell the most beautiful story of the Enduring China-Africa friendship.
Meanwhile, despite the deepening China-Africa cooperation focusing more on addressing the economic bottlenecks that Africa faces on its path to modernization, a visit to China gives a different view of China-Africa friendship; a view that is more about the people-to-people connections and cultural aspects of this friendship. I was brought in contact with the efforts being taken to not just expose Chinese people to African culture but also to preserve artifacts of African culture with a Chinese touch. Indeed this serves as the bedrock for the enduring China-Africa friendship. While this may be aim to strengthen the bond between the two parties, it is also a clear indication that as long as Africa is able to harness this friendship with China, the prospects of the continent will only continuously get brighter.
George Musiime is a research fellow at the Development Watch Centre.