Africa During Xi Jinping's Third Term

 The Africa Center for Strategic Studies published on 29 November 2022 an analysis titled "China's Deepening Ties to Africa in Xi Jinping's Third Term" by Paul Nantulya.  

The author suggests China's efforts to enlist African support can be expected to intensify during Xi's third term.  The new foreign policy team will be supervised by outgoing Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who knows Africa well and was promoted to the Politburo as the new director of the CPC Central Foreign Affairs Commission.  

Xi wants to instill Chinese values and governance norms as alternatives to the West and as part of a party-driven foreign policy.  There will be an emphasis on "discourse power," which means China will make maximum use of its propaganda and media infrastructure.  The CPC wants to remain Africa's most important destination for education and training and will ramp up this effort after it defeats COVID-19.

China Sees Global South as Target to Set Digital Standards

 The Atlantic Council published in August 2022 a study titled "Chinese Discourse Power: Aspirations, Realty, and Ambitions in the Digital Domain" by Kenton Thibaut.  

China believes that the United States currently dominates the international system, and sees growing Western opposition to China as evidence that the current world order is a threat to the continued security of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

For the CPC, gaining "discourse power" translates into increased geopolitical power by creating consensus around an alternative, China-led international order--one that privileges state sovereignty over civil liberties, and subordinates human rights to state security.  China has identified both the digital realm, for example the Digital Silk Road, and the Global South, including Africa, as prime areas of opportunity.