By Laiyin Yuan
Author: Shang Xi
Translator: Laiyin Yuan
Published on: 04/03/2015
Source: Southern Metropolis Daily (SMD)
Original text (in Chinese): http://epaper.oeeee.com/epaper/A/html/2015-04/03/node_2748.htm
This article is a trenchant diagnosis of the underlying problems in Sino-Africa economic relations. During the recent Third Africa-China Young Leaders Forum, the Deputy Secretary General of the China Foundation for Peace and Development suggested that the Chinese government and companies should rethink how they do business in Africa. More local efforts should also be encouraged in order to enhance people-to-people exchanges between both sides. It is a useful introspection for the Chinese to find a way to “clear its name” in African countries.
---- Laiyin Yuan (translator)
China has been providing aid for thousands of projects in Africa. In addition to famous ones such as Ethiopia’s African Union Conference Center, Tanzania’s Nyerere Conference Center, and Mozambique’s National Stadium, there are also a large amount of highways, railways, airports, hospitals, schools, etc.
However, with more and more Chinese people moving to Africa, conflicts between them and locals are intensifying. On the eve of the Third Africa-China Young Leaders Forum, a Chinese restaurant in Kenya provoked widespread condemnation because it barred local Kenyans from entering after 5:00 pm (read more here - Laiyin).
During this forum, the China Foundation for Peace and Development (CFPD) held a dialogue focusing on “People-to-People Exchange and Sino-African Relations.” Ji Ping, CFPD’s Deputy Secretary General, created a new word “Afrina” combining “Africa” and “China” in his speech, hoping the two sides can truly understand each other on a non-governmental level.
“Now the most important thing in Sino-African relations is people-to-people exchange, and everyone has responsibility in it,” said Ji Ping during an exclusive interview with our reporter after the forum. China’s aid in Africa should “break the whole into parts” and penetrate into the African grassroots.
Showing posts with label Immigration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Immigration. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Translation Tuesday: The Chinese in Africa long to “celebrate New Year like migratory birds”
By Zander Rounds
Author: Song Fangcan
Translator: Zander Rounds
Published on: 2/24/15
Source: China News Service
Original text (in Chinese): http://www.chinanews.com/hr/2015/02-24/7075435.shtml
What is it like for the Chinese living and working in Africa? This article about China’s “migratory birds” – the people that return home from abroad every holiday season – provides some insight into what it is like being abroad during the holidays.
---- Zander Rounds (Translator)
During a skit from the Year of the Goat Spring Festival Gala that took place on New Year’s Eve, a lonely father (Played by Pan Changjiang) morosely passes the time in an empty car. After a “serendipitous meeting” at a train station he receives a call from his son saying that he has already returned from Africa to celebrate the New Year. Viewers are moved as this previously unattainable dream of reunion becomes a happy reality. Although this is only an art piece, now returning to China has undeniably become a common practice for Africa’s Chinese people.
“The most remote distance in the world is when you are in China but I am in Africa.” Someone posted this sorrowful message. However, along with developments in communication technology and as transportation methods become more convenient and individual purchasing power increases, more and more overseas Chinese in Africa return to China (their ancestral home) to celebrate the New Year. This is no longer an unattainable dream. During this traditional festival more and more people embark on this homeward-bound, “migratory bird-like” journey to celebrate the holiday.
Published on: 2/24/15
Source: China News Service
Original text (in Chinese): http://www.chinanews.com/hr/2015/02-24/7075435.shtml
What is it like for the Chinese living and working in Africa? This article about China’s “migratory birds” – the people that return home from abroad every holiday season – provides some insight into what it is like being abroad during the holidays.
---- Zander Rounds (Translator)
During a skit from the Year of the Goat Spring Festival Gala that took place on New Year’s Eve, a lonely father (Played by Pan Changjiang) morosely passes the time in an empty car. After a “serendipitous meeting” at a train station he receives a call from his son saying that he has already returned from Africa to celebrate the New Year. Viewers are moved as this previously unattainable dream of reunion becomes a happy reality. Although this is only an art piece, now returning to China has undeniably become a common practice for Africa’s Chinese people.
“The most remote distance in the world is when you are in China but I am in Africa.” Someone posted this sorrowful message. However, along with developments in communication technology and as transportation methods become more convenient and individual purchasing power increases, more and more overseas Chinese in Africa return to China (their ancestral home) to celebrate the New Year. This is no longer an unattainable dream. During this traditional festival more and more people embark on this homeward-bound, “migratory bird-like” journey to celebrate the holiday.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Translation Tuesday: Chinese “Science Geek” Living in Guangzhou’s African Community for Authentic Photo Shoots
By Laiyin Yuan
Author: He Weijie
Translator: Laiyin Yuan
Published on: 07/16/2014
Source: Yangcheng Evening News
Original text (in Chinese): http://www.ycwb.com/ePaper/ycwb/html/2014-07/16/content_495254.htm?div=-1
Born in the 1960s, Li Dong has many titles to be proud of, such as that of “science geek,” as he graduated from a prestigious university, served as a corporate senior executive, was a successful entrepreneur, and more. However, with his camera in hand, he left his job two years ago and moved to the largest African community in Guangzhou: Baohan Zhijie in Yuexiu District. From initial “vigilance” to final “understanding,” he became a good friend of his African interlocutors and documented their lives in Guangzhou with his camera.
--- Laiyin Yuan (translator)
From “Science Geek” to Photographer
Baohan Zhijie, which is located near Xiatang West Road in Yuexiu District, is both familiar and strange to many Guangzhou citizens. Starting around 2002, more and more African merchants moved to Guangzhou for international business. From their perspective, the market in mainland China, especially in Guangzhou, is more bountiful than those in Southeast Asian or Hong Kong.
Gradually becoming “little Africa,” the Baohan Zhijie community made many local residents “keep a respectful distance” because of cultural differences and misunderstandings.
Author: He Weijie
Translator: Laiyin Yuan
Published on: 07/16/2014
Source: Yangcheng Evening News
Original text (in Chinese): http://www.ycwb.com/ePaper/ycwb/html/2014-07/16/content_495254.htm?div=-1
Born in the 1960s, Li Dong has many titles to be proud of, such as that of “science geek,” as he graduated from a prestigious university, served as a corporate senior executive, was a successful entrepreneur, and more. However, with his camera in hand, he left his job two years ago and moved to the largest African community in Guangzhou: Baohan Zhijie in Yuexiu District. From initial “vigilance” to final “understanding,” he became a good friend of his African interlocutors and documented their lives in Guangzhou with his camera.
--- Laiyin Yuan (translator)
From “Science Geek” to Photographer
Baohan Zhijie, which is located near Xiatang West Road in Yuexiu District, is both familiar and strange to many Guangzhou citizens. Starting around 2002, more and more African merchants moved to Guangzhou for international business. From their perspective, the market in mainland China, especially in Guangzhou, is more bountiful than those in Southeast Asian or Hong Kong. Gradually becoming “little Africa,” the Baohan Zhijie community made many local residents “keep a respectful distance” because of cultural differences and misunderstandings.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Translation Tuesday: Africa: China’s Second Continent
By Luwen Song, Laiyin Yuan, and Albert Zhu
Author: Xing Wei
Translator: Luwen Song, Laiyin Yuan, and Albert Zhu
Published on: 08/04/2014
Source: Dongfang Daily
Original text (in Chinese): http://www.dfdaily.com/html/51/2014/8/4/1172805.shtml
After intermittent phone contact for several days, Howard W. French and Hao Shengli finally met.
This scene could never happen a decade ago: an America journalist meeting with a Henanese farmer, not in Washington D.C., New York, Beijing, or Zhengzhou (the capital of Henan Province), but in an African city faraway from both China and the United States – Maputo, the capital of Mozambique.
Hao was barking into his cell phone when his white chauffeur-driven, late-model Toyota pickup pulled up in front of my hotel. It was clear that he was in a hurry and angry. There was a brisk handshake, followed by a lot more shouting in salty Chinese as he struggled to make himself understood to a countryman whom I could grasp he wanted to buy goods from.
Author: Xing Wei
Translator: Luwen Song, Laiyin Yuan, and Albert Zhu
Published on: 08/04/2014
Source: Dongfang Daily
Original text (in Chinese): http://www.dfdaily.com/html/51/2014/8/4/1172805.shtml
After intermittent phone contact for several days, Howard W. French and Hao Shengli finally met.This scene could never happen a decade ago: an America journalist meeting with a Henanese farmer, not in Washington D.C., New York, Beijing, or Zhengzhou (the capital of Henan Province), but in an African city faraway from both China and the United States – Maputo, the capital of Mozambique.
Hao was barking into his cell phone when his white chauffeur-driven, late-model Toyota pickup pulled up in front of my hotel. It was clear that he was in a hurry and angry. There was a brisk handshake, followed by a lot more shouting in salty Chinese as he struggled to make himself understood to a countryman whom I could grasp he wanted to buy goods from.
"'China is a big, fucking mess with all of its fucking dialects,' the shaven-headed, stocky Hao, in his late fifties, said as he hung up.With these vivid descriptions, French’s new book China’s Second Continent – How a Million Migrants are Building a New Empire in Africa focuses on the at least one million Chinese living in Africa, embodied by Hao Shengli, who in most cases come to Africa voluntarily, rather than sent by the Chinese government.
As I stood there with my bags, already sweating in the mid-morning heat, Hao’s frustration caused him to train abuse on John, his tall and sinewy Mozambican driver, who had been coolly smoking a cigarette while he rearranged the supplies loaded onto the Toyota’s flatbed.
'You, cabeça não bom, motherfucker,' he said, the curse word coming in Chinese, as the grizzled immigrant farmer angrily employed three languages in one short and brutal sentence…”
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Migration and Imperialism in the Sino-Africa relationship (2/2)
Host Winslow Robertson continues his discussion of the excellent China's Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa with its author, Prof. Howard W. French French is associate professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he teaches reporting, writing, and a spring seminar each year on contemporary China. In this episode, they discuss criticisms of the book as well as how French managed to interview so many diverse peoples.
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Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Migration and Imperialism in the Sino-Africa relationship (1/2)
The excellent China's Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa was just released to rave reviews last month. This phenomenal Africa-China book looks at China's engagement with Africa through the prism of Chinese immigration to the continent. In order to further explore some of theses themes, host Winslow Robertson (Dr. Nkemjika Kalu is sadly indisposed) discusses the book with its author, Prof. Howard W. French. French is associate professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he teaches reporting, writing, and a spring seminar each year on contemporary China. Prof. French also had a distinguished career with The New York Times, where he spent almost two decades as a foreign correspondent: He was chief of the newspaper's Shanghai bureau. Prior, he headed bureaus in Japan, West and Central Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. He also wrote The Next Empire, a 2010 China-Africa article in The Atlantic. In addition, Prof. French wrote A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa and Disappearing Shanghai: Photographs and Poems of an Intimate Way of Life.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Chinese migrants in Lesotho
ALERT: This is a Mandarin-language episode! Jess Wilhelm, Senior Research Associate at Social & Scientific Systems, delivered a lecture on Chinese migrants in Lesotho based on his experiences as a Peace Corps Volunteer there. He spoke on April 17, 2014 at China Garden for the Mandarin Speakers Society. Carlos Da Rosa provided the introduction. We recorded the lecture, and Mr. Wilhelm was generous in offering to translate it, and his efforts can be seen below the break.
Introduction - 0:11
Lecture - 4:34
Questions and answers - 45:49
Introduction - 0:11
Lecture - 4:34
Questions and answers - 45:49
Monday, November 4, 2013
The Chinese as Foreigner in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Join your hosts Winslow Robertson and Dr. Nkemjika Kalu as they bite off more than they could chew and try to talk intelligently about the Democratic Republic of the Congo for an entire month, starting with discussing the idea of the Chinese as foreigner in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This big topic required two guests, and they were lucky to get them: Prof. Laura Seay, Assistant Professor of Government at Colby College and all-around DRC maven; and Jacob Kushner, who just wrote a fantastic book about recent Chinese interaction with the DRC and its peoples.
PS Unsurprisingly, we were hit with some pretty big technical difficulties so we apologize in advance!
PS Unsurprisingly, we were hit with some pretty big technical difficulties so we apologize in advance!
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- [INTERVIEW] Facetime interview with Ojukwu Emma, leader of the Nigerian community in Guangzhou, China by Roberto Castillo
- Dr. Kalu
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- The Sicomines agreement revisited: prudent Chinese banks and risk-taking Chinese companies Sicomines by Johanna Jansson
- China, Zambia, and a Clash in a Coal Mine by Alexis Okeowo
- Tropical Africa by Henry Drummond
- Prof. Laura Seay
- Conflicting Missions: Havanna, Washington, and Africa, 1959-1976 by Piero Gleijeses
- The African Dream: The Diaries of the Revolutionary War in the Congo by Aleida Guevara March (Foreword), Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Richard Gott (Introduction), and Patrick Camiller (Translator)
- China's Congo Plan: What the Economic Superpower Sees in the World's Poorest Nation by Jacob Kushner
Sources
China's Congo Plan: What the Economic Superpower Sees in the World's Poorest Nation by Jacob Kushner
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Tuesday, September 3, 2013
The Second Best China-Africa Podcast You Ever Heard!
The triumphant debut of the Cowries and Rice Podcast, the second best China-Africa podcast you ever heard!
What are the perceptions of China-Africa relations? What do Africans and Chinese, in particular, think of that relationship? We are glad you asked that! Listen to this episode of the Cowries and Rice podcast as the speakers commit all sorts of cardinal sins about social science research; generalizing based on anecdotes and incomplete data, and making claims that are not exactly reviewed by a scholarly body! Dangerous!
Recommendations:
- Winslow
- Dr. Kalu
- An African Student in China by John Emmanuel Hevi
- The Dragon's Embrace: the Chinese Communists and Africa by John Emmanuel Hevi
- Elle
- Africans in China: A Sociocultural Study and Its Implications on Africa-China Relations by Adams Bodomo
- African Pentecostal Migrants in China: Marginalization and the Alternative Geography of a Mission Theology by Heidi Østbø Haugen
- Ghetto at the Center of the World: Chungking Mansions, Hong Kong by Gordon Mathews
- Andy
Monday, June 3, 2013
SADC: Hope to See You Thursday!
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Wednesday, February 27, 2013
The Importance of Immigration
He begins by saying:
An increasingly common complaint emanating from the African media is that Chinese immigrants in Africa are having a negative impact in their host economies.The piece really should be read in full, but these are the points I want to highlight:
Recent studies suggest that the population of Chinese in Africa now stands at close to 1 million. The chief concern is that Chinese small businesses, often run by Chinese families, are capitalizing on their better access to Chinese markets, more advanced techniques, or superior access to capital, to make profits in key industries in which Africans seek employment – namely petty trading, agriculture, mining, and building work.
- Hall gets the Chinese population right, which does not always happen when writing about the numbers of Chinese in Africa. Right now, it stands at about a million.
- The piece mentions that Chinese and African labor do compete in certain sectors, "namely petty trading, agriculture, mining, and building work." That is an important point, because one of the differences in how the Chinese live and work in Africa versus Americans or Europeans is that the latter are not competing for the same sorts of jobs with the locals.
- Hall explains how Chinese market traders are so successful compared to their African counterparts due to"their superior access to Chinese markets and capital," though I would like more of an exploration of the work schedules of traders.
- He sets up an interesting frame of analyzing Sino-African relations by asking whether Chinese wealth leaves the country or not. Most of the time if China generates wealth it is viewed as somehow illegitimate, that they are taking something from the African peoples. Perhaps that is the case, but it would probably be more helpful to see if Chinese money stays in the locality in which it was generated.
- Hall highlights areas that China could really benefit Africa, notably transferring skills, employing locals with successful businesses, and setting up manufacturing.
- Hall concludes by emphasizing the importance of African governments in regulating immigration. The proverbial ball is mostly in Africa's court on this issue, and it is up to African governments to enforce immigration or at least think about immigration.
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