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Rwandan Whipping Incident Reverberates Through Africa-China Relationship

by Cobus van Staden
Sun Shujun (top right) was charged with torture after he was filmed beating a man tethered to a pole. Prosecutors say other men pictured were also assaulted.

The China-Africa news discussion was consumed this week by the news that a Chinese mining boss was sentenced by a Rwandan court to twenty years in prison for whipping an employee.

The incident can’t be separated from its media afterlife. Video showing an employee tied to a post as Sun Shujun lays into him with a rope, against the background of misty Rwandan hills, was instantly iconic in the worst way.

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