China is such a polarizing issue in the U.S. and Europe at present that almost any discussion on the topic is bound to become political. That’s certainly the case in the China-Africa space, where webinars hosted by U.S./European think tanks, universities, and companies often devote the bulk of their discussion to the more controversial aspects of this multifaceted relationship. 

I attend or speak at these online seminars every other week or so and I can tell you that it doesn’t take very long, usually no more than five or ten minutes, for that skeptical view of China to surface. Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not suggesting that the criticisms of China related to debt, its COVID-19 diplomacy, and the broader asymmetry in the China-Africa relationship are necessarily unwarranted… But if that’s all you’re hearing, you’re missing an important part of the story.