China’s Media Involvement in Africa

Abstract

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, China has been preoccupied in a quest of “Culture Going Out” as a viable solution to ease the ideologically charged tension in its relations with the West. Chapter 4 examines Chinese media engagement in Africa in the light of a wider and geo-politically more important project, “Chinese Industry Going Out,” which incorporates “Culture Going Out.” It traces the Chinese practice of media diplomacy in Africa back to the 1970s, linking and contrasting the current expansion to an earlier Wai Xuan (international propaganda) program. The chapter scrutinizes consistencies and inconsistencies of the Chinese approach in idealizing the China–Africa partnership in tandem with its national politics and foreign policy objectives.