ABSTRACT
In the run-up to Sierra Leone’s 2018 elections, various Chinese actors openly supported the ruling party, which led to worries by opposition parties and civil society about the role China wants to play in Sierra Leonean politics. The chaotic period leading to the elections is instructive with regard to both debates on African agency and China’s strategy towards political stability within African countries: the chapter attempts to unravel the ruling All People’s Congress’ (APC) motivation in using its relations with China in the run-up to the elections and to make sense of China’s role, whose open involvement was perceived as a sign that they had given up the principle of non-interference. Drawing on newspaper articles as well as interviews conducted in Freetown, the chapter deals with Sierra Leoneans’ and external actors’ perceptions of these events and Sino-Sierra Leonean relations. It shows how China, through the APC’s conduct, has become part of political competition within Sierra Leone. The incumbent’s behavior throughout the elections could have had a destabilizing influence, had it not been for the support of other international actors as well as the resilience of civil society and the National Electoral Commission.
and the National Electoral Commission.
