China’s image in Africa was tarnished last year by the ill-treatment of African migrants
in Guangzhou, a port city. That brought condemnation on social media and by African
politicians. But, broadly speaking, African views of China are nuanced and resilient.
Polling of 18 countries by Afrobarometer, a pan-African research group, released in
September 2020, found that an average of 59% of respondents had a favourable view of
China—marginally higher than of America (58%). No wonder African politicians are
careful not to take sides.
Nor will they see much benefit in speaking out against China over issues such as
Xinjiang, Hong Kong or Taiwan. China places great value on the 54 African countries’
votes at the UN and other international organisations. (In 1971 African votes ensured
that the People’s Republic of China was admitted to the UN and that Taiwan was
expelled.) It will reward those who vote with it and punish those who do not. Officials in
Kenya are known to have studied China’s punitive response to Australian criticism of its
human-rights records—and fear what would happen if their country did anything
similar.
Even if African politicians wanted to speak out against China, few believe Western
governments would support them if they did. “The West is unwilling to underwrite the
cost of antagonising China,” says W. Gyude Moore, a former cabinet minister in Liberia,
now at the Centre for Global Development, a think-tank. “The continent is best served
by charting its own course.”
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