French journalist Darius Rochebin seemed genuinely surprised when Democratic Republic of the Congo President Félix Tshisekedi stated in a recent interview that he and other African leaders prefer to work with Russia and China over Western democracies.
Rochebin, one of francophone Europe’s most well-known reporters, interviewed Tshisekedi for the French news channel LCI during the president’s recent trip to Paris.
Tshisekedi was characteristically blunt in his criticism of France and other Western countries, who he says continue to approach Africa with a condescending attitude compared to the Chinese and Russians:
FÉLIX TSHISEKEDI: For me, the most important thing is to readjust the partnership and to stop looking down on us (as less than human) and instead form real, positive partnerships and no more dominated and dominant… and if that happens, I think things can change.
DARIUS ROCHEBIN: But how is it that Russia and China, which aren’t democracies, have made so much progress in Africa?
TSHISEKEDI: Because they don’t come with that attitude. They don’t come with that same kind of arrogance and to lecture us, which is actually very frustrating.
ROCHEBIN: Are you saying that the Chinese or the Russians behave better than us Westerners, currently, in your opinion?
TSHISEKEDI: Of course. You don’t really understand the realities in Africa today and that’s really a shame because, as I’ve said, Europe is truly the best partner for Africa — by virtue of [our shared] history and geography, given that we are two continents located so close to one another — but it’s astonishing to see how we are very distant in terms of culture. We can’t, for example, understand why you come to give us lectures on human rights.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? China’s presence in Africa remains poorly understood in France, which explains, in part, why such a prominent journalist like Rochebin seemed genuinely surprised to learn that African leaders like Tshisekedi prefer to deal with them rather than France and other Western countries.
De-centering France from the African narrative is something that is proving to be very difficult for many French journalists, analysts and politicians.
