In these contentious times, China is often accused of exporting its statist economic model to Africa and other developing regions as part of a broader ideological agenda to create a new Sinocentric international order. But Tsinghua University Professor Tang Xiaoyang argues in his new book published earlier this year that interpretation is a gross misunderstanding of what actually motivates Chinese economic engagement on the continent.
Professor Tang joins Eric & Cobus from Beijing to make the case why pragmatism, not ideology is the driving force behind China’s economic agenda in Africa.
Show Notes:
- Amazon.com: Coevolutionary Pragmatism: Approaches and Impacts of China-Africa Economic Cooperation by Tang Xiaoyang
- Center for American Progress: 5 Things U.S. Policymakers Must Understand About China-Africa Relations by Jordan Link
- Bloomberg: Chinese Market Is What Africa Needs Next, Says Uganda’s Leader by David Malingha and Fred Ojambo
About Tang Xiaoyang:
Tang Xiaoyang is a resident scholar and the deputy director of the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy and the vice chair and a professor in the Department of International Relations at Tsinghua University. His research interests include political philosophy, global modernization processes, and China’s engagement with developing countries.
