China And East Africa

China and East Africa: Ancient Ties and Contemporary Flows marks the culmination of a new round of archaeological and historical research on the relations between China and Africa, from the origins to the present. Africa and Asia have always been in constant contact, through land and seas. The contributors to this volume debate and present the results of their research on the very complex and intricate networks of connections that crisscrossed the Indian Ocean and surrounding lands linking Africa to East Asia. A growing number of speakers of Austronesian languages returned to Africa, reaching Madagascar in the early centuries of the Common Era. The diffusion of domesticated plants, like bananas, from New Guinea to South Asia and Africa where phytoliths are dated to the mid-fourth millennium in Uganda and mid-first millennium BCE in southern Cameroon, provide additional evidence on early interactions between Africa and Asia. Africa and Asia have always been in constant contact, through land and seas. Edited by Chapurukha Kusimba, Tiequan Zhu, and Purity Wakabari Kiura, this collection explores different facets of the interaction between China and Africa, from their earliest manifestations to the present and with an eye to the future.

This book engages globalization from an archaeological and long-term perspective by using the case study of the historical interaction between China and East Africa. It raises questions of whether the greater connectivity that has emerged from globalization will lead to homogenization of culture, or the creation of a monoculture.

Introduction -- Moving through the Practico-Sensory Realm of Space -- Spatial Textures of the Clinical Encounter -- Misunderstandings, and the Spaces They Create -- Emplacement, Emplotment, 'Empotment' -- Patients, Practitioners and Their Pots -- The Patients -- The Practitioners -- The Pots: Orientations -- Pots, 'Pots' and Pots -- What Is in a 'Pot'? Industrially-Produced Chinese Formula Medicines -- What Makes a Pot Efficacious? Social Distance, Exotic Techniques and -- Potencies beyond Them -- 'The Chinese Antimalarial' as 'Pot' and Pot -- Conclusion. Kaleidoscopic Refractions.

In contemporary discourse on China-Africa relations, there are, on the one hand, the Sino-pessimists who see China as a giant vacuum-cleaner, sucking up Africa’s resources in order to fuel its own rapid industrialization, and destroying Africa’s development potential in the process. On the other hand, the Sino-optimists see China as the ultimate savior of Africa, capable of or willing to 'develop' the continent. Between the two divergent schools of thought are those sitting on the fence for the time being, the Sino-pragmatists, who are less sanguine for sure about what Africa would gain from China-Africa relations, but are nevertheless willing to reserve judgment until the dust settles. This book is innovative in two ways: it introduces a regional approach to the study of China-Africa relations by focusing on Eastern and Southern Africa; and it puts forward a disciplinary framework- disciplinary in both senses of that term- for interrogating the burgeoning literature about China-Africa relations by conceptualizing the three schools of thought mentioned above.

It is now apparent that East Africa cannot be viewed in isolation if its early history is to be adequately understood. Arabic, Indian, and Chinese influences have been discovered in the East African cultures, and evidence has shown that from about 100 B.C. the coastal fringe of eastern Africa was economically and culturally an integral part of the Indian Ocean basin. The available evidence relating to these early con-tacts is so scattered, however, that historians and archaeologists must rely on the findings of numerous related disciplines. The contributors to this volume make ingenious use of anthropological, geographical, ethnographical, zoological, linguistic, numismatic, and musicol-ogical evidence as they develop new historio-graphical techniques to open this challenging area of inquiry. Among them are the leading specialists in their respective fields: H Neville Chittick, Vinigi Grottanelli, Paul Wheatley, J S Trimingbam, Gervase Mathew, Pierre Wrin, Aldan Southall, Merrick Posnansky, James Kirkman, and Michael Gwynne. The topics in-vestigated include: the peopling of the East African coast, Chinese knowledge of East Africa, the Arab geographers, the problem of Malagasy origins, connections between the lacustrine peoples and the coast, and the origin and spread of various domestic food plants. Although there remain as many questions as answers, this volume serves as a vital summa-tion of our current knowledge and points the way toward further fruitful research in African history.

Based on an extensive literature review, in-depth interviews, fieldwork, and anecdotal evidence, this text examines China’s engagement with East Africa (notably Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda) and considers these relationships through the lens of history, diplomacy, education, trade, media, cultural exchanges, and infrastructure. It probes the sentiments of pessimism, optimism, and pragmatism to explore perceptions about China in East Africa Africa. China’s ancient connection to the East African coast, as well as other incidents of contact in the past, are analyzed from the viewpoint of the deployment of Chinese soft power capital in current times. The book notably examines the significant role China is playing in the construction of new infrastructure and housing throughout East Africa and addresses China’s involvement in the natural resources sector and the political debate surrounding the construction of gas and oil pipelines, its investment in the tourism sector, in the news media and information and communication technology sectors as well as in educational and cultural programs.

As China and the U.S. increasingly compete for power in key areas of U.S. influence, great power conflict looms. Yet few studies have looked to the Middle East and Africa, regions of major political, economic, and military importance for both China and the U.S., to theorize how China competes in a changing world system. China's Rise in the Global South examines China's behavior as a rising power in two key Global South regions, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. Dawn C. Murphy, drawing on extensive fieldwork and hundreds of interviews, compares and analyzes thirty years of China's interactions with these regions across a range of functional areas: political, economic, foreign aid, and military. From the Belt and Road initiative to the founding of new cooperation forums and special envoys, China's Rise in the Global South offers an in-depth look at China's foreign policy approach to the countries it considers its partners in South-South cooperation. Intervening in the emerging debate between liberals and realists about China's future as a great power, Murphy contends that China is constructing an alternate international order to interact with these regions, and this book provides policymakers and scholars of international relations with the tools to analyze it.

Beginning in earnest at the turn of the twenty-first century, China embarked on a robust multilevel engagement strategy with a number of African states on three simultaneous fronts--economic, political, and military. The push was predicated by Beijing's need to secure energy and natural resources to fuel its booming economy and bolster its position as the world's manufacturing hub. The depth of China's engagement cannot be understated, and its increasing stakes in the security dimension of Africa's myriad conflicts is affecting the geopolitical landscape of a continent that has been in the past an exclusive domain of the West. C hina in Africa examines the multifaceted effects of China's engagement with the continent, both its many risks and opportunities. It provides critical and relevant information for understanding the strategic drivers, trends, and the potential impact of China in Africa. The book covers Chinese soft and hard power, energy and arms relations, and China's relations with individual African countries: Angola, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Ultimately, this volume serves to assist in improving U.S. policymakers' understanding of China's role in Africa and ensure that appropriate measures are taken to secure American interests in the region. Contributors include Mauro De Lorenzo (American Enterprise Institute), Drew Thompson (Nixon Center), Wenran Jiang (University of Alberta), Paul Hare (U.S.-Angola Chamber of Commerce), Susan M. Puska (Defense Group, Inc.), Ian Taylor (University of St. Andrews), Chris Zambelis (Helios Global, Inc.), David Shinn (GeorgeWashington University), Joshua Eisenman (American Foreign Policy Council), Yitzhak Shichor (University of Haifa), Greg Mills and Christopher Thompson (Brenthurst Foundation), Andrew McGregor (Aberfoyle International), and John C. K. Daly (United Press International).