ABSTRACT
Summarising the sub-Saharan constructions of China into three broad contested narratives, this chapter notes that the competing perspectives indicate that African actors, while appreciative of Chinese economic assistance, remain concerned about being exploited by China. The chapter foregrounds the book’s conceptual and empirical contributions. Conceptually, it expands the Constructivist theorising of state identity by challenging the systemic approach and proposing that a variety of domestic actors engage in contested constructions of foreign states’ identities. These contests delineate the permissible boundaries of diplomatic strategies towards the significant Others. This approach brings into sharp focus the significance of the domestic milieu as central to analysing a state’s foreign policy options. Empirically, by examining African voices, this study challenges the Sino-centric approach that dominates the Africa-China scholarship. Its disaggregation of the African discursive constructions reveals that while state actors play crucial role in affecting diplomatic strategies towards China, they continuously compete with non-state actors, who advance their own ideas of preferable relations with the PRC. In presenting complex discursive contests on the issue of Ghana and Kenya’s China strategies, this study demonstrates that the Sino-central focus on what China does in and to Africa is insufficient to explain Africa’s relations with China.
