ABSTRACT
This chapter dissects sub-Saharan constructions that are hostile towards the PRC. These constructions reflect African concerns about the conduct of variegated Chinese entities. The chapter shows that when Africans construct the identities of the PRC, they move beyond both the unitary- and state-centric—synonymous with rationalist approaches—as well as the systemic—as in Wenditan constructivism—all of which are exemplified in official diplomatic interactions at the governmental level to the domestic—a contextual fixation of the relationship in their everyday encounters—where they reflect over their everyday experiences with multifarious Chinese entities. By referring to domestic China, international China, China/Chinese in Africa and/or Afro-encounters with China/Chinese as well as Western perspectives in their identity constructions of the PRC, the chapter underscores the utility of a constructivist approach that begins with the domestic as the starting point of analysis. Such an approach unravels the unitary perspectives and reflects more accurately on the policymaking environment, revealing the role that non-state actors play in the China relationship. Embedded in second- and third-level agency, non-state actors particularly express these anti-China narratives and seek to influence African China-related policies, proving that state elites do not have monopolistic purview over policymaking.
