China's Growing Media Influence in Africa

 Deutsche Welle published on 29 January 2021 a story titled "Experts Warn of China's Growing Media Influence in Africa" by Chrispin Mwakideu.  

China's Xinhua News Agency is the largest network of correspondents in the world.  Kenya serves as the Africa headquarters for Xinhua, China Global Television Network, China Daily, and China Radio International.  African media are finding it increasingly difficult to fend off the economic power of China's information/propaganda operation on the continent.  

China Radio International Program on President Obama's Trip to Africa

China Radio International hosted on 31 July 2015 a 54 minute program devoted mostly to President Obama's recent visit to Kenya and Ethiopia.  The four persons on the program were Liu Guijin, former Chinese ambassador to South Africa and China's special representative for African affairs, Ronald Mutie, Kenyan journalist based in Beijing, Timothy Kitui, lecturer at Kenya Methodist University, and myself.  The conversation covered both US-Africa and China-Africa relations. 

Situation in Libya: Discussion with China Radio International

China Radio International broadcast on 5 August 2014 a 25 minute program on the situation in Libya.  It consists of three separate interviews with Flynt Leverett, Pennsylvania State University, Li Guofu, China Institute of International Studies, and myself.  The focus was on the effects of Western intervention in 2011 and whether Libya can extricate itself from its current troubles. 

Panel Discussion of Somalia and Al-Shabaab

China Radio International on 14 October 2013 ran an hour-long, wide-ranging panel discussion about recent developments in Somalia, the Westgate Mall bombing in Kenya, and al-Shabaab.  The panelists were He Wenping, African studies expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Joyce Njogu, TV producer with the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation; and myself. 

China, Soft Power and Africa

Writing for The Diplomat on 4 June 2013, Trefor Moss, an independent journalist based in Hong Kong, in an article titled "Soft Power? China Has Plenty" criticized Joseph Nye's (the person who coined the term soft power) conclusion that China has largely been unsuccessful in its soft power efforts.

Moss acknowledged that Chinese soft power has not worked well in North America, Western Europe and those parts of Asia that fear or dislike China.  In these areas, China probably is wasting its time and resources when it tries to get people to watch CCTV, read English language versions of China Daily or helps fund Confucius Institutes.  On the other hand, Moss argues these tactics are working well in places like Africa and Latin America.  

China Radio International Panel Discussion on African Sahel

China Radio International asked me to participate on 31 January 2013 in an hour long panel discussion of recent developments in the Sahel region of Africa.  The other panelists were Ayo Johnson, director of Viewpoint Africa in London, and Antoine Lokongo, a researcher at the Center for African Studies at Peking University in Beijing.  The discussion focused on efforts by African countries, France and the United States to counter terrorism in the region.

Click here to access a recording of the discussion.