Translation Tuesday: Guangzhou’s Public Security Bureau: Issues of Africans in Guangzhou are made to be bigger than they actually are; the crime rate of foreigners is not in fact high

By Zander Rounds

The following article is an attempt to mediate some of misunderstandings about Africans among many of the Chinese people, probably to alleviate some of the tensions that have arisen as a result. The timing of this article is notable, as it was released back when the police in Guangzhou were beginning to crack down on foreigners.
----Zander Rounds (Translator)

Africans are fond of living together; their number is not as many as imagined

There are 118,000 foreigners in Guangzhou, of which 16,000 are Africans. The crime rate of foreigners is not actually as high as city residents imagined… A few days ago, during an exclusive interview with Yangcheng Evening Paper, the Public Security of Exit-Entry Administrative Service Bureau of Guangzhou revealed the following information:

Translation Tuesday: No Translation Today

Due to exams and the impending holidays we will not be putting up a translation this week. We will have the next translation up next week we hope.

Translation Tuesday: Chinese Civil Airport Construction Accelerating in Africa

By Laiyin Yuan

Author: Qian Chunxian
Translator: Laiyin Yuan
Published on: 12/07/2014
Source: Xinhua News Agency
Original text (in Chinese): http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2014-12/07/c_1113550648.htm

There is a Chinese saying: “if you want to get rich, build roads first.” Now, roads can also refer to airways, which are becoming increasingly important in the overall economic development of African countries. Chinese companies are undertaking many oversea airport construction projects, which will hopefully bring result in a true "win-win" outcome.
----Laiyin Yuan (Translator)

With the New Year looming, China's large-scale civil infrastructure construction strategy is focusing strong development initiatives through the idea of “stabilizing growth with airport construction.” On November 28, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced the approval notices for four infrastructure construction projects, including three new railway projects, such as the Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway's Badaling section, as well as the second phase of Lanzhou Airport expansion project. These projects' total investment  reached 51.01 billion yuan ($8.29 billion dollars).

Li Jiaxiang, the Director of the China Civil Aviation Administration, stated that the civil aviation industry could be rapidly incorporated into the regional economic and social development strategy, because it requires fewer investments but has quicker effects and better ability to drive overall development. According to World Trade Organization (WTO) statistics, civil aviation currently accounts for about 15% of total global transportation, but its added value can account for nearly 50% of the global total.

Translation Tuesday: Is China’s ideological influence in Africa good?

By Zander Rounds

Translator: Zander Rounds
Published on: 11/21/2014

Author: Tang Xiaoyang
Source: Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy
Original event: http://carnegietsinghua.org/2014/11/21/china-africa-economic-cooperation-in-global-context/hu5w

The following Mandarin-language exchange between Tang Xiaoyang, a scholar of Africa-China economic relations, and an African audience member, occurred during the question and answer segment of "China-Africa Economic Cooperation in a Global Context," which hosted by the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing. Substantively, Tang’s response to this question about China’s ideological influence in Africa is quite interesting. Note, for instance, that while the audience member frames his question in terms of the role of China as an influential external actor, Tang responds by shifting the focus entirely to the critical role of locals in “accepting” different ways of thinking. Also interesting are the strong liberal undertones of his advice for how nations should respond to globalization.
--- Zander Rounds (Translator)

Audience member:

Speaking as an African person, previously we had African ideas and then, due to the issue of colonialism, Western ideas came over and influenced us. Now, Chinese people are doing a lot for us, and as they do they also bring Chinese ideas. For example, when a Chinese leader says “its like this” then its just “like this” [meaning, he or she is not questioned]. Africa already has problems with democracy. And as a result of a number of important factors, our development has lagged behind. 

Do you think China’s ideological influence on Africa is positive? What are the benefits and harms that Chinese ways of thinking present for Africa’s development?

Tang Xiaoyang:

Do Chinese ways of thinking have a positive or negative influence in Africa? In fact, I think the ways of thinking that can actually be accepted are all those that Africans [already] can understand; and as such, the ways of thinking that produce results are all actually African’s own ways of thinking.