Lacking the pop culture Europeans and Americans have long relied on to bolster their soft power diplomacy in Africa, China instead uses alternative messaging about its rapid economic development, infrastructure accomplishments, and now domestic poverty alleviation.
While the Chinese topics are clearly not as exciting as music videos from the likes of Beyoncé, they do nonetheless find an audience in Africa, where a lot of stakeholders see China’s economic development trajectory as an inspiration for their own countries.
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