Longtime China-Africa analyst and University of Pretoria Phd candidate Yushan Wu joins Eric & Cobus for a lively discussion on whether it still makes sense for China to put on big, fancy and very expensive mega summits with African leaders like FOCAC that will take place in Beijing in September.
Facing a slowing economy and a potentially devastating trade war with the U.S., maybe China has more important things to do? That said, Africa presents a huge potential market and enormous geopolitical opportunities for Beijing in this time of profound geopolitical change.
Join the discussion? Do you think it makes sense to hold these elaborate get-togethers every three years? Instead, would it be better if China met either individually with each African country or through other forums like the African Union? Let us know what you think.
Show Notes:
- China Daily: Viewing bilateral ties from Africa’s perspective by Dr. Hodan Osman Abdi
- The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Wang Yi Talks About the FOCAC Beijing Summit
- Daily Nation: China-Africa summit should prioritize security-corruption nexus by Peter Kagwanja
Yushan Wu is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pretoria in South Africa and a Research Associate at the Africa-China Reporting Project at Wits University in Johannesburg. She is South African and has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the University of the Witwatersrand. She also has a background in Media studies and has assisted at the South African Broadcasting Corporation and contributed to a project on Chinese presence in South Africa for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Yu-Shan is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in International Relations, at the University of Pretoria.
Yu-Shan’s areas of research are emerging countries and public diplomacy (through media and soft power) and China-Africa Relations (specifically South Africa, social consequences and the media relationship).
