Earl Conteh-Morgan's stated aim for this volume is ambitious – an analysis of the “…political, geo-economic and socio-cultural dimensions of the China–Africa partnership” and their drivers (xi). He sets out to do this by examining China's high-level political engagement with African countries, focussing primarily on China's foreign development assistance in its various guises and the interrelatedness between energy security, political allegiances, military co-operation and market capture in a globalizing world. Unfortunately, Conteh-Morgan falls short of the mark and misses an opportunity to significantly contribute to the already vast body of knowledge regarding Africa–China relations. While he dutifully cites a number of recent texts throughout the book in each chapters’ reference section, there is little evidence of the application of this literature review to enhance his own work, which results in his trotting out a number of superficial and stereotypical assertions that have already been debunked more than a decade ago elsewhere. There are also only a handful of in-text references and such footnotes that do exist are jumbled and do not appear relevant to the sentences to which they are attached.
Conteh-Morgan asserts that his contribution is “… the only work that takes a multi-dimensional view of the China–Africa partnership” (p. 12) and that much of the previous body of work on this topic is marred by “… broad assertions underlined by cultural bias” (p. 12). The grave irony is that Conteh-Morgan does precisely this in his own analysis. In a misguided attempt at cultural relativism, he earnestly explains that Chinese businessmen believe that they are not bribing but “gift-giving”:
This gift-giving or exchanges prior to concluding a business deal is labelled bribery and corruption by the West. In communal, Third World traditional societies it is simply an indication of a willingness to engage in more co-operation and is often expected and accepted cultural behavior. (p. 28)
Conteh-Morgan cites the construction of sports stadia and other prestige projects as an example of such “gift-giving.” Such an assertion is problematic on a number of levels. Firstly, it presumes that neither China nor any African country has enforceable anti-corruption legislation. Ironically, and somewhat disproving the cultural acceptance of bribery, anti-corruption has been the successful campaign platform of several African presidents, most notably Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari (2015), Angola's João Lourenço (2017), as well as Chinese president Xi Jinping. Secondly, he conflates corruption with prestige projects built by grants, or export credits, which is hardly a practice that is exclusive to China, while simultaneously failing to acknowledge the role that Western countries’ development assistance plays in their foreign policy and economic relations with Africa countries.
He is also unselfconsciously patronizing in his characterization of China and African countries:
There are striking similarities between China and Africa that make the two regions also more compatible to each other, than to the Western world. In terms of democratic culture or political culture in general, China and Africa are very similar in terms of authoritarian tendencies, human rights violations, corruption, and a general absence of the rule of law. (p. 8)
This bold remark, which I daresay would be disputed by Africans and Chinese alike, is presented as indisputable fact, and no explanatory framework is provided to contextualize or defend it. It encapsulates Conteh-Morgan's underlying assertion, repeated throughout the book, that China and Africa are drawn together through what he calls a “socio-cultural” connection, in the face of Western hegemony. This discourse is an undisputed constant at red-ribbon events and China–Africa political exchanges. However, it warrants further interrogation, beyond its face-value usage, as to the underlying power play at work on both the part of Beijing and the individual agendas of African political capitals.
There are other examples of this uncritical approach. Typical of less nuanced studies, Conteh-Morgan panders to the idea of Chinese exceptionalism by failing to provide an adequate comparative framework within which to place Beijing's dealings with the African continent. For instance, throughout the book, he points to the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), established in 2007 as the direct American diplomatic response to the successes of the high-level multi-lateral forum on China–Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) established in 2000. This may well be the case, but whereas AFRICOM focusses heavily on regional military co-operation and security, with US national interests at the forefront of its mission statement, FOCAC is touted as a mechanism for enhancing co-operation between China and African countries in a wide-ranging number of sectors, with a focus on social and economic development, of which military co-operation is only a part. Conteh-Morgan falls short of successfully explaining the merit of this comparison.
Conteh-Morgan is also frustratingly reductive in his analysis on a number of issues. He is critical of China's non-interference policy without recognizing the tensions Beijing has experienced in reconciling it to realpolitik needs. He also loudly denounces China's arms trade with the continent and, despite acknowledging that the US, UK, France and Russia are all larger exporters of arms to Africa than China (p. 181), he studiously ignores the fact that that these four are also all permanent United Nations Security Council members, responsible for the very peace-keeping resolutions mustered to combat armed conflict. There are many more such examples.
The flow of Conteh-Morgan's monograph is interrupted by a number of factual and spelling errors, which are not even consistent in their inaccuracy – for example the date of the Bandung Conference (pp. 81, 125) and various spellings of “Al Qaeda” and “Deng Xiaoping.” As such, the volume would benefit from a rigorous bout of editing.
By choosing a geo-political economy approach, Conteh-Morgan acknowledges the complex interrelated aspects of the relationship he seeks to unpack. However, the unstructured nature of his discursive essay and lack of critical assessment leaves the reader at a loss as to what Conteh-Morgan ultimately set out to achieve with this volume.
