African perspectives of China-Africa links
A quantitative content analysis of East African newspapers
Alicia Björnsdotter
Bachelor thesis
Department of Government Uppsala University, Spring 2018 Supervisor: Maria Eriksson Baaz Words: 13875
Pages: 57
Abstract
This thesis investigates the frequency in which certain views regarding the quickly developing China-Africa relationship appear in Kenyan, Tanzanian and Ugandan newspapers. Given the general lack of studies focusing on African perspectives of China-Africa links, and in particular the lack of studies focusing on perceptions articulated in media, this thesis fills a gap in current China-Africa research. Through examining previous literature and recent survey data, key economic, political, cultural and social factors are identified which can be assumed to affect Africans image of China. These factors, along with supplementary cultural and environmental aspects not yet extensively explored, make up the analytical tool used in a quantitative content analysis of 586 news articles. In brief, the results of this analysis show that positive and negative views are expressed to an almost equal extent in examined articles, both in total and within each subset of factors. This varied view is more positive than the generally negative view held by Western politicians and media but more negative than the very positive view generally held by the East African public. Furthermore, the results indicate that economic factors (mainly economic development and job opportunities) is the main focus, followed by the issue of whether or not the China-Africa relationship is mutually beneficial or of a more neocolonial nature. A few articles touched upon the environmental aspects of China's involvement in Africa, suggesting this to be of some importance to East Africans and hence relevant to include in future studies of China-Africa links.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction………4-5 1.1. Research purpose and research questions………..………5 1.2. Relevance………..…………5-6 1.3. Definition of East Africa………...…………6 1.4. Delimitations ………6 1.5. Previous research ………...…….…………..6-8 1.6. Outline ……….………8
2. Theoretical assumptions………8 2.1. Economic factors……….9-10 2.2. Political factors………..……10-11 2.3. Cultural and social factors………...…………12 2.4. Concluding comments………...…………12-13
3. Research design and method………..………13 3.1. Choice of method: Quantitative content analysis………13 3.2. Choice of material: Online news articles………...…13-14 3.3. Analytical tool………...…14-16 3.4. Practical implementation………...…16-17 3.5. Limitations and methodological shortcomings………..…17-18
4. Results and analysis………...………18 4.1. Overall results………18-22 4.2. Economic factors………23 4.2.1. Economic development………...…………23-24 4.2.2. Job opportunities………24-25 4.2.3. Imported products………..……25-26 4.3. Political factors………...………26 4.3.1. Relationship………26-27 4.3.2. Non-interference………27-28 4.3.3. Working conditions………..………29 4.4. Cultural and social factors………...…………29 4.4.1. Culture………29-30 4.4.2. Behavior……….………30-31 4.5. Environment………..………31-21
5. Conclusion and concluding remarks………..……32-33
6. Bibliography………...…34-39
7. Appendix (A-B) ……….………40-58
” I wish to assure our African friends in all seriousness that China will never pursue a colonialist path like some countries did or allow colonialism, which belonged to the past, to
reappear in Africa. China will forever be a reliable friend and true partner of the African people and contribute to Africa's endeavor in developing its beautiful home continent”
- Premier Li Keqiang during his first visit to Africa in 2014
1. Introduction
In the late 1950s, China’s ideologically driven campaign promoting Third World solidarity and anti-colonialism made Africa an integrated part of China's political identity. When African countries started gaining independence, China outlined the principles of ”equality, mutual interest and non-interference” that would underpin China-Africa relations and, trusting the words of Premier Li Keqiang, still do so today (Hanauer and Morris 2014). Western leaders tend to be a bit more sceptic. Former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson firmly warned African leaders of China's increasing engagement on his first official visit to sub-Saharan Africa in March 2018, saying that it “encourages dependency using opaque contracts, predatory loan practices and corrupt deals that mire nations in debt and undercut their sovereignty, denying them their long-term, self-sustaining growth” (Koran 2018).
While world leaders and scholars may not agree on the desirability of China increasing its presence in Africa, they do seem to agree on the fact that economic and diplomatic activity between China and Africa is booming. Africa's trade with China has been growing faster than with any other country or region in the world since 1990 and has surpassed both that of Africa- US and Africa-EU (Osondu-Oti 2016).Even though China invests heavily all across the continent, some regions seem to bear specific significance for Beijing's long-term development strategy, commonly called the “Belt and Road Initiative”, unveiled by Xi Jinping in 2013 (PRC 2015). Eastern Africa is one of them. Set to become Africa's fastest growing region, with newly discovered oil reserves, relative stability as well as huge populations and emerging markets (Johnston 2017). Here, China rapidly strengthens its economic and political power through efforts such as the construction of China's first overseas military base in Djibouti, the launch of popular Chinese soap operas in Tanzania (CCTV 2013) and the signing of new contracts for media distribution in Kenya (Shinn 2013), not to mention countless investments in huge infrastructure projects such the East Africa regional railway network, which will eventually connect the entire region of Eastern Africa, and ultimately all of Eastern Africa with China (Sun 2017).
Reviewing the scholarly debate on China-Africa relations, one can observe a boom at the start of the 21st century. This activity later seems to have slowed down, even though China’s activity on the continent has not (Large 2008). Articles touch upon geopolitical implications or debate whether or not Chinese resource extraction and trade will ruin African attempts at industrialization or democratization (Keenan 2008, Osondu-Oti 2006, Large 2008), but all leaving African perspectives surprisingly unexplored (Shen and Taylor 2012, Large 2008, Sautman and Hairong 2008). Some also criticize that the few scholarly articles that do focus on
“African views” generally do not back up their claims with empirical research (Sautman and Hairong 2009:730). Some of the scholars most knowledgeable regarding China-Africa links
ask themselves “how much we really know about African public's perceptions of China” and what factors shape these opinions (Shinn 2006 para 11). For instance, is economic development the main factor and is China then seen as a bringer of that? Or is the image of China centered on other aspects, such as the behavior of the quickly increasing Chinese population in Africa or perhaps fear of dependency on yet another economic giant?
1.1. Research purpose and research questions
The aim of this thesis is to contribute to fill this research gap by analyzing views of China- Africa links as they appear in East African media, a previously disregarded but highly relevant actor when it comes to shaping the general public’s perception of these issues. Using previous research and survey data as well as exploring potential factors not frequently covered in existing research, it seeks to identify factors that might shape these perceptions to later quantify the extent to which these appear in Kenya’s, Tanzania’s and Uganda’s largest newspapers.
The specific questions are as follows:
Which factors potentially affecting East African perceptions of China-Africa links can be discerned in academic literature and recent survey data? Which possible additional factors are not included?
To what extent does the positive and negative aspects of these identified factors appear in Kenyan, Tanzanian and Ugandan newspapers?
What general patterns can be discerned in the results of the media analysis and how does this relate to survey data?
1.2. Relevance and contribution
For a continent having had its fair share of exploitative relationships and experience of being the battleground for the geopolitical and economic goals of mighty powers, it seems more important than ever to analyze and evaluate all aspects of yet another powerful actor’s growing role in African nations domestic affairs. Just as important is to not once again neglect African actors and perspectives when doing so. Media is one such actor offering one such perspective, worthy of attention due to its highly significant role in shaping public opinion (Davison 2017).
So far, systematic academic research of how East African media (or African media in general) cover issues regarding China-Africa links is lacking. Seeing as national media content is both a result of as well as a shaping force of people’s opinions, thoughts and interests, analyzing this content could provide valuable insights on how East Africans are likely to see China's role in Africa today as well as in the future. To strengthen this argument, previous research on African opinions of China suggests that key variation is by country, making “media influences or variations in China’s relations with African countries play an auxiliary, but important, role in opinion formation” (Sautman and Hairong 2009:730). In addition to Kenya’s, Tanzania’s and Uganda’s relevance for, and scope of involvement with, China making these countries interesting to analyze, they are also made suitable due to print medias relatively high presence
in the region. Literacy rates are high compared to the African average (World Bank 2016) and all three countries enjoy relatively free press (RSF 2018).
In addition to the relevance of the media analysis in itself, recent survey data not yet used in academic publications will be presented. Moreover, the thesis contributes with a discussion about additional factors potentially shaping perceptions of China. That is to say that it does not simply rely on the factors identified in previous scholarly literature and surveys but hypothesizes additional ones and analyzes to what extent they emerge in the media analysis.
Hopefully, this contribution could inspire similar studies of other African cases or provide insights for supplementary studies of a more explanatory nature.
1.3. Definition of East Africa
The term “East Africa” is an ambiguous one. Some use it in accordance with the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, referring to 22 countries or areas located in the Eastern part of Africa (UNSD 2018). Others use it in a narrower sense by only including the six partner states in the East African Community (EAC 2018), a third group narrows it down even further, as exemplified by Encyclopedia Britannica (2015), only including Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda (treating “East Africa” as a traditionally recognized region within the larger “Eastern Africa”). This narrower alternative will be used in this thesis, hence calling the studied region (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) “East Africa” and the more general eastern part of the continent “Eastern Africa”. By this I do not suggest that this is the “correct” definition.
It simply provides a way of being able to tell the studied region apart from the surrounding in a way that is both practical and minimizes vagueness.
1.4. Delimitations
This thesis analyzes perceptions of China as they appear in the media. Hence, it does not (in contrast to surveys) cover public opinions more generally. Yet, given the ways in which media shape public opinions, views articulated in media are, as argued above, important to study.
Furthermore, the media analysis focuses specifically on the East African region and thus does not aim to draw any conclusions about other African nations or Africa as a whole. Nor does it aim to analyze changes over time but is limited to the examined time period. As for the chosen newspapers representing media content in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda during this time period, I point to the fact that the major newspapers are selected. While there is a possibility that other, smaller newspapers would report differently about China, their coverage is not as wide and thus does not shape public opinion to the same extent.
1.5. Previous research
As mentioned in the introduction, there are few comprehensive empirical studies of African perspectives on China-Africa relations in general, even fewer that cover Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and even less that systematically study East African media. However, a few studies providing empirical research on African actors or people’s perceptions of China should be mentioned. I will shortly present their key findings and results. As part of the contribution of this thesis, and due to the lack of much updated academic research that in a reliable way covers
the region of interest, I will also bring up two recent opinion surveys made by independent research institutes. In the next section, I will further describe the specific aspects these surveys have included (i.e. what factors they assume are important in shaping perceptions on China), as well as review the more general China-Africa debate in order to find theoretical support for and guidance regarding what aspects to include in my own analysis.
To begin with, not much research on Africans perceptions of China originates from China, and when it does it is often considered unreliable or incomplete. One example could be the official Xinhua News Agency that in 2006 conducted a study on Africans impressions of China's involvement. It showed that 76 percent of respondents had a fully positive impression which, according to Shen and Taylor (2012:700), must be considered “unsurprising, given that it was conducted and published by an official arm of the Chinese government”. What is more, it claimed to represent all of Africa when in fact only 42 valid responses from 16 countries were ultimately collected (Xinhua 2006).
Yan Hairong and Barry Sautman (2009:728) presented what was according to them “the first empirically based study of what Africans think of their relationships with China”. This consisted of an opinion survey among university students in nine African countries, showing that respondents views of China are in general quite positive, with Kenyans being amongst the most positive (Tanzania and Uganda were not included in this study). They also find that a plurality of Kenyans disagree with the statement that “China is just in Africa for natural resources” and think that China’s policy of non-interference is a good policy. Kenyans are also generally satisfied with Chinese companies that work on large projects and believe that small Chinese businesses help with local economic development (but can also be a source of problems for local people). Being able to choose only one option, most (70 percent) see the Chinese as
“hardworking”, 13 percent see them as “friendly”, 6,7 percent “unfriendly” and 2,6 percent
“racist”. However, this study’s claim of representing general African views can be criticized as well, considering that only nine countries were included and that respondents consisted exclusively of university students, a group which can hardly be considered very representative for the population as a whole.
Shen and Taylor (2012) in turn conducted a study of Ugandan youths’ perceptions of China.
This group seem generally positive towards China’s economic role in the country, although certain aspects provoke more negative responses. 38,6 percent of respondents answered in the affirmative when put before the statement that “Chinese workers have taken away Ugandans’
jobs”, and 36,2 percent saw their job security as directly threatened by the influx of Chinese workers. When it comes to Chinese products brought to Uganda, 54,1 percent agreed that these are of poor quality.
When it comes to opinion surveys conducted by independent research institutes, they too show that Africans tend to have generally positive attitudes towards China as a whole but mixed or negative views regarding some specific aspects. Two surveys in particular deserves attention and the first, the Afrobarometers, will be particularly important for my study as the efforts to identify potential factors draws largely upon the factors included in this survey.
The Afrobarometer (2016) covers both general opinions of China and which factors shape these opinions in 36 countries. Relevant key findings include that 76 percent of Kenyans, 71 percent of Tanzanians and 58 percent of Ugandans see China's influence as “somewhat/very positive”
and 8 percent of Kenyans, 8 percent of Tanzanians and 7 percent of Ugandans see it as
“somewhat/very negative”. Generally, economic factors play a much larger role in affecting China’s image than political and social factors. For instance, 69 percent of Kenyans, 47 percent of Tanzanians and 43 percent of Ugandans say that “Investment in infrastructure and business”
is the factor that contribute most to a positive image of China, followed by “Cost of products”
(13 percent of Kenyans, 22 percent of Tanzanians, 20 percent of Ugandans). When it comes to which factor contributes most to a negative image of China, 45 percent of Kenyans, 37 percent of Tanzanians and 38 percent of Ugandans answered “Quality of Chinese products”, 10 percent of Kenyans, 19 percent of Tanzanians and 9 percent of Ugandans answered “Taking jobs or business from locals” and 8 percent of Kenyans, 7 percent of Tanzanians and 5 percent of Ugandans answered “Extraction of resources from Africa”.
Another recent opinion survey regarding China's image was conducted by Pew Research Center, in which Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are three of the seven sub-Saharan countries surveyed. It shows that 74 percent of Kenyans, 77 percent of Tanzanians and 61 percent of Ugandans view China favorably and that 16 percent of Kenyans, 10 percent of Tanzanians and 18 percent of Ugandans view China unfavorably (Pew Research Center 2014).
1.6. Outline
This thesis is divided into four main parts. Following this introductory section, the next will focus on the broader China-Africa scholarly debate and the Afrobarometer survey cited above in an attempt to identify which factors could be considered likely to affect the image of China in Africa (and therefore should be included in the analytical tool for the media analysis).
Thereafter, I will present my choice of method and material as well as the analytical tool and principles guiding the media analysis, concluded by a discussion of methodological dilemmas and limitations. The fourth and final section is where the quantitative results as well as quotes from the media analysis is presented as well as analyzed and compared to recent survey data.
The thesis ends with a brief conclusion and concluding remarks.
2. Theoretical assumptions
In this section, I will go deeper into the general academic debate in order to discern the most frequently mentioned positive and negative aspects of China-Africa cooperation. These will later be combined with the factors included in the Afrobarometer survey as well as my own contributions to form the analytical tool for this study.
Reviewing the wider China-Africa literature in order to discern what aspects of China's involvement in Africa that might affect perceptions and opinions, a division between economic, political, cultural and social factors can be made:
2.2. Economic factors
As found in the Afrobarometer (2016), economic factors seem to play a much larger role in shaping Africans views of China than other aspects do. Like in most academic literature (see below) the main emphasis is on risks and negative consequences when it comes to economic aspects, although positive arguments can also be discerned. I find that the majority of economic factors discussed are centered on the consequences of three specific aspects of China-Africa relations; investments from China, imports from China and exports to China.
Firstly, most scholars discussing economic aspects of China's involvement in Africa mentions the continent’s pressing need to provide jobs for its burgeoning youth population, and whether or not China's involvement might be positive or negative in this regard. There is a clear divide regarding whether or not China’s overseas investment creates more jobs in African host countries. Some scholars point to that Chinese investment in infrastructure projects created the need to employ workers and thereby boosted local employment (Besada 2013, Hanauer and Morris 2014). Others claim that China’s overseas investments generally create very few jobs, mostly due to the fact that Chinese state-owned companies tend to ship over their own workers instead of using the local workforce (Wei 2012, Rich and Recker 2013). Some scholars say that both scenarios might be partly true (Wei 2012).
Another factor possibly contributing to African job loss according to scholars is imports, or what an African union leader once called “a tsunami of cheap goods” (Wei 2012:683). Many point to this as one of the major economic risks for African countries related to Chinese involvement, claiming that increasing imports of low-cost Chinese products are flooding African markets, resulting in Chinese traders displacing African ones who are no longer able to turn a profit when competing with the low prices set by the Chinese (Shinn 2013, Bbaala 2015, Besada 2013, Wei 2012). As demonstrated by Besada (2013), these tensions have on several occasions led to violence and attacks on Chinese owned businesses.
Secondly, the debate on economic aspects of China-Africa cooperation also centers heavily on Africa's long term economic development. Bbaala (2015:105) argues that China’s “carnivorous appetite for Africa’s commodities” has not given especially resource-rich African states the chance to diversify their economies and move into more value-adding types of manufacturing (Bbaala, 2015). Similar arguments are brought up by Melber (2013), who claims that Sino- African relations is nothing but a repetition of the classical exploitative pattern where Africa provides raw materials to wealthier countries where the actual value-adding process takes place.
This kind of uneven trade leaves very little of the final value of a product for the raw material provider. Bbaala (2015) further warns against the risk of Africa being pushed towards long- term dependency on China. He mentions “Dutch Disease”, a term coined by The Economist to describe a situation in which findings and increased exports of natural resources leads to appreciation of the currency, which in turn makes other exports relatively more expensive and thereby less demanded.
Besada (2013) also mentions this as one of the major causes to why China-Africa relations could have a negative impact on future unemployment rates in Africa, seeing as this might impede any growth of the more labor-intensive sectors so highly needed on a continent
struggling with high unemployment. Cheap imports could also have similar effects on long term economic growth and employment opportunities as raw material exports. Cheap products might not only put local merchants out of business but also harm African countries manufacturing capacity by outcompeting the local industries that previously produced similar products as the ones now being imported (Wei 2012, Bbaala 2015). Bbaala (2015) points out that in countries such as Lesotho, Madagascar, South Africa and Kenya, especially the clothing and handicraft sectors has been forced to scale-down operations and lay off workers (2015). Scholars Michael Fairbanks and Mthuli Ncube (2012) report that 80 percent of textile factories have been closed due to Chinese competition in Nigeria, resulting in 250,000 workers being laid off. Some scholars also argue that African countries risk to perpetuate or even worsen the so called “debt cycle” already plaguing their economies, which would significantly slow economic growth in the near future (Besada 2013).
Thirdly, a negative aspect frequently mentioned in scholarly articles as coming from Africans themselves is the type of products that is generally imported from Chinese manufacturers. Even though African consumers generally welcome the availability of Chinese products (Shinn 2013) and the affordability of these products seem to fill a gap in the market for many (Besada 2013), the largest focus is on their reputed bad quality. Ruth Simbao (2012:1) mentions the South African slang word “Fong Kong”, which is associated with specifically Chinese imports, meaning “fake, cheap, low quality”. Shinn (2013) adds the issue of false labelling and fake products circulating on the African market. Instances have been reported where Chinese- manufactured textiles are being sold in Africa with Made-in-Africa labels as well as medicines being sold with the wrong amount of the active ingredient.
Most of the factors assumed to shape African views of China that were included in the Afrobarometer study (2006) are in some way economic, and generally similar to the ones brought up in academic literature outlined above:
The Afrobarometers assumed positive economic factors:
- China's investment in infrastructure or other development - Cost of Chinese products
- China’s business investment
The Afrobarometers assumed negative economic factors:
- Quality of Chinese products
- Taking jobs or business from locals
- China’s extraction of resources from Africa
- Land grabbing by Chinese individuals or businesses
2.3. Political factors
One widely debated aspects of China-Africa relations is the nature of the relationship itself, in terms of who comes to benefit. One representative example might be the frequently quoted professor Chris Alden (2009), who formulates three contrasting perspectives of China-Africa
relations. Should China be considered a true development partner to Africa, simply a selfish competitor for economic gains or perhaps a new colonizer? (Alden 2009, Fairbanks and Ncube 2012). Or as Bbaala (2015:97) puts it, does China-Africa links create a “win-win” or “lose- win” situation? Some argue that while these emerging China-Africa relations are often framed as a curse by Western politicians and Western media (Simbao 2012, Large 2008), China’s trading practices are not largely different from that of other actors, nor is there any direct efforts to control African governments (Shinn 2013). Others argue that China's engagement in Africa do show neocolonial characteristics (Shen and Taylor 2012, Edoho 2011) and criticize China for taking advantage of vulnerable African economies and leaders desperate for funding and economic growth (Besada 2013).
Another politically related debate regarding China's activity in Africa is China's principle of non-interference and loans without conditionality. It might come as no surprise that China, itself an authoritarian regime with a poor human rights record, does not try too hard to encourage or pressure partner countries to move in a more democratic direction. Breslin (2007) amongst others state that this policy seems especially appreciated by African leaders who do not embrace full democracy. Some add to the debate the fact that many African leaders are tired of Western influenced economic policies that seemingly do nothing but worsen the situation and see China's path as a promising new development model (Osondu-Oti 2016, Hanauer and Morris 2014). The main point made by critics is that China's trade deals, loans and aid to undemocratic and repressive African rulers undermine the efforts made by democratic countries and international organizations to pressure for change, by offering the same deal but without the
“unfavorable” counterdemands (Taylor and Shen 2012, Osondu-Oti 2006). Human rights activists have cited China’s relations with Zimbabwe and Sudan as examples. China does not only cooperate with these repressive regimes but also finance large purchases of weapons sometimes used in severe crimes against humanity (Bbaala 2015). Another example is the political opposition in Ethiopia protesting heavily against China’s significant involvement in the country's telecommunications, which is allegedly used to block opposition-affiliated websites (Seifudein 2012). Connected to the issue of human rights in the literature is the question of poor working conditions including substandard safety regulations, below minimum wage pay and child labor (Bbaala 2015). This has resulted in severe accidents and deaths, often followed by anti-Chinese violence (Besada 2013). Some scholars take a more critical stance, asking if conditions really are worse at Chinese operated facilities or if perhaps African governments are to blame for not enforcing their own labor laws (Hanauer and Morris 2014).
The Afrobarometer (2016) includes only one political factor assumed to contribute to a positive image of China, namely “Non-interference in the internal affairs of African countries”, and one assumed to contribute to a negative image of China which is “China’s willingness to cooperate with undemocratic rulers”.
2.4. Cultural and social factors
A few scholars have directed their attention to the more cultural or social dimensions of China- Africa relations, both of which are probable to contain aspects that shape African views of China and the Chinese. Liang Wei (2012) claim that China began its conscious use of soft power in Africa late and that Chinese culture has not yet been as influential on the African
continent as for instance Western or Arabic cultures (Shinn 2013, Wei 2012). Very few scholars seem to go deeper into debating which cultural factors regarding China-Africa cooperation that might be seen as positive or negative by people in Africa.
Previously cited Shen and Taylor (2012) do however focus part of their study on more cultural aspects. They find that only 29 percent of Ugandan youths agreed that a good cultural exchange exists between the countries. Over 43 percent were of the opposite view, though they also find that Ugandans seem to have an overall attraction to Chinese culture. They also include survey questions related to the behavior of Chinese nationals, showing that 42.8 percent said they like Chinese people in general, as opposed to about half the number claiming the opposite. However, Chinese ranked lowest by far when respondents were asked to choose between an U.S., European or Chinese imaginary dating partner, where 45.6 percent explicitly did not want a romantic relationship with someone of Chinese ethnicity.
Yet, which exact aspects of Chinese national’s behavior in Africa that seems to be appreciated or not appreciated is not widely covered in academic research. Sautman and Hairong (2012) includes “friendly”, “unfriendly”, “selfish” and “racist” as traits in their survey study, where
“friendly” is more common than the others. Except for this one example, the question of racism is not frequently lifted. Looking towards the field of sociology, Yinghong Cheng (2012) has published an article about the, sometimes challenging, interactions between Chinese and Africans, where both are said to frequently discriminate against the other on racial grounds.
Many Chinese exhibiting this behavior have lived and worked in Africa for extended periods of time, meaning that this might very well be a contributing factor shaping negative views about the Chinese in Africa.
The Afrobarometer includes “Appreciation of the Chinese people, culture, and language” as a factor potentially contributing to a positive image of China and “Behavior of Chinese citizens in the country” as a factor potentially contributing to a negative image of China.
2.5. Concluding comments
To summarize, the general scholarly debate along with opinion surveys include or discuss numerous different factors that can be assumed to shape East Africans’ image of China. In the economic sphere, investments, exports and imports are mentioned as through a multitude of mechanisms result in both more and less jobs as well as faster and slower economic development. The imported products in themselves and their affordability versus poor quality are also mentioned as liked and disliked by Africans. As for political factors, non-interference is mentioned as both allowing self-rule for African states and potentially undermining democratic values and attempts at democratization. Working conditions and the question whether the China-Africa relationship is in itself mutually beneficial or more of a neocolonial nature is also widely discussed. As to the social dimension, behavior of Chinese nationals in Africa is one factor probably affecting the view of China, given the strong presence of Chinese on the continent. Possible cultural factors discerned are cultural exchange and appreciation of Chinese culture. These are all factors of interest for the media analysis. However, there is a possibility that East African newspapers cover additional aspects or have a different main focus
from Western research in ways that is relevant for my study, aspects which will be discussed in the next section.
3. Research design and method
In this section, I will describe and motivate my choices leading up to the media analysis. The first part will describe the method quantitative content analysis, the second motivate the choice of online print media as material and the third describe the creation of the analytical tool as well as the finished result. A section describing the study’s practical implementation and the rules guiding this follows before the section is concluded with a brief discussion of possible limitations and methodological shortcomings.
3.1. Choice of Method: Quantitative content analysis
Quantitative content analysis is a method often used in political communications research when the aim is to categorize content and find out how often something does or does not occur.
“Content analysis” simply means an analysis of the content in some kind of written or spoken source. “Quantitative” means that this analysis is based on comparable data that can consequently be analyzed using numbers and statistical methods (Esaiasson et al. 2014:197).
Its most notable strength is its sample size, resulting in “a reduction in sampling error and an increased level of confidence in generalizing from our results” (Manheim and Rich 1995:186).
This method suits the purpose of this study well, considering its aim to objectively identify general patterns and generalize results to newspaper content read by people in the East African region in general. One should however not overstate the objectivity of this kind of method considering most studies, and this one in particular, requires a more qualitative kind of interpretation as well prior to categorization (Esaiasson et al. 2014:198).
To do a quantitative content analysis, one needs the guidance of an extensive analytical tool.
This normally includes a codebook to clarify the variables and the different values it can take, and a coding manual further specifying how these values are to be interpreted empirically.
Rules and principles for handling more ambiguous cases and situations are also needed in order to keep reliability high throughout the coding process (Esaiasson et al. 2014:200-201).
3.2. Choice of material: Online news articles
The units of analysis for this study are online news articles containing the word “China” or
“Chinese” in seven widely read newspapers in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. When presented with the choice of different forms of news media, attention was paid to the relevance (to what extent it reaches and potentially influences a wide range of people), accessibility (how easily enough relevant material can be accessed by the researcher) and workability (how easily and quickly the material can be processed with preserved reliability). Radio is widely used all over Africa, and television is getting increasingly popular, thus both meeting the relevance criteria.
They do however not fare as well when it comes to accessibility and workability, where online news articles have a clear advantage. The exact copy of the printed issue is often available
online on subscription and where it is not the content seems to be relatively similar, as found after an initial comparison.
Since the aim of this study is to describe as much of the content reaching ordinary Kenyans, Tanzanians and Ugandans as possible, the biggest, most widely read newspapers are chosen for each country. Newspaper ownership is given special consideration in an attempt to achieve a spread between government owned and privately published newspapers in case these have different content. Since a few media houses operating in East Africa publish multiple newspapers, sometimes in different countries, there has in some cases been a trade-off between a larger reader base and a better spread of publishers. The main consideration has however been the amount of readers, using the criteria of publisher variety when deciding between two of roughly equal size.
Articles from Kenya will be taken from independent Daily Nation, Kenya’s market leading daily (published by Nation Media Group that also operates in Tanzania and Uganda) and privately-owned The Standard, together covering large parts of Kenya’s press market (Elliot 2015). In Tanzania, government owned Daily News, Tanzania's oldest and most widely read English newspaper will be analyzed, along with privately-owned Mwananchi which publishes articles in both English and Swahili. This is important considering that articles published in Swahili most likely reaches different groups of people in Tanzania, where English is not as widely spoken (BBC 2017a). Dominating the press market in Uganda are government owned New Vision and privately-owned Daily Monitor, published by Nation Media Group (BBC 2017b), both well suited as material for this study with previously mentioned criteria in mind.
On top of this, articles from The East African will be analyzed. Given that this popular newspaper (also published by Nation Media Group) is available and widely read in large parts of the Eastern African region, this is an efficient way to analyze a larger amount of relevant material in a shorter amount of time (BBC 2017b).
3.3. Analytical tool
The creation of a functioning and suitable analytical tool is one of the most challenging and time-consuming part of a quantitative content analysis (Manheim and Rich 1995:185). This is certainly the case in this study since it does not use ready-made categories. In order to not stray too far from the research purpose, the analytical tool will be limited to three different variables.
The first will be which newspaper the article is found in and thus also in which country or countries it is read. The second will categorize if the author is an African, Chinese or Western reporter or representative. This is due to the fact that some articles, although not in all newspapers, are written by for instance the Chinese ambassador or a Western policy analyst, which could be an interesting factor to consider in the final results. The third is the main variable of interest, namely which views regarding China's involvement that can be discerned in the article.
The values of the views-variable are based on the key aspects presented in Theoretical assumptions. Yet, while based on this, I have – as mentioned earlier - had the aim to refine and develop these factors in order to create categories which are suitable for use in an analytical tool that is able to provide interesting and reliable results. I have also changed and added some
factors based on my own findings in an initial pilot study, where the codebook and coding manual were tested on a smaller number of articles. The main points in my reasoning when designing the analytical tool are explained below:
Firstly, my main rule have been to not include too many aspects into one single category, simply because important information will be lost if it is not possible to tell these apart in the final results.
Secondly, I have chosen to design my variables to better reflect reality and the general debate, compared to for instance the Afrobarometer factors, thus making it clear that the same topic (here called “category”) can be viewed as resulting in reactions or outcomes that are both positive and negative (here called “views”). Thus, where the Afrobarometer asked respondents if “non-interference in the internal affairs of African countries” is the most important factor contributing to a positive image of China, this study focus on the concept of “non-interference”
in general and acknowledges the fact that this can result in both positive things (thus creating the category “self-rule”) and negative things (“undermining democratic values”). This makes it possible to both observe which factors East African media focuses on the most but also if they are more frequently talked about in a positive or negative way.
Thirdly, I will include a purely cultural category in the tool of analysis, even though this does not have widespread support in academic research, where “soft power” is mostly treated as part of the economic relationship (Wei 2012). I do however partly base this on Shen and Taylor (2012), mentioning cultural exchange as a potentially positive aspect of China-Ugandan relations, and the Afrobarometer (2016), including the option “appreciation of the Chinese people, culture, and language” in their survey. My contribution is complementing these aspects with negative counterparts. Logically, a foreign culture can also be disliked and cultural exchange unwanted, and culture and attempts to spread culture be of a more imposing nature.
Consequently, these will be the indicators for the negative value in this category.
Finally, I will add a completely new factor/category to my tool of analysis which to my knowledge has not previously been lifted in academic literature as something possibly affecting African views of China-Africa links, namely environmental factors. Given the increasing global focus on environmental and climate related issues, I anticipate that such factors could play an increasing role. A survey study on public perception of environmental issues in developing settings made by Michael White and Lori Hunter (2009:960) support this claim as well, suggesting that “local populations in less developed settings prioritize social and environmental concerns”, and that “environmental issues are deemed important even when considered relative to other socioeconomic issues”. Moreover, given China’s increasing commitment to climate change mitigation, it could not necessarily be assumed that China would be seen as a bearer of environmental problems. After finding a number of articles regarding Chinese projects related to renewable energy in Africa, another mentioning China’s efforts to create an “ecological civilization” as well as some criticizing Chinese activities in Africa on environmental grounds in the pilot study, I chose to include the variable values “positive environmental impact” and
“negative environmental impact” to my main variable of interest. The finished codebook used for the media analysis is presented below. The accompanying coding manual can be found in Appendix A.
3.4. Practical implementation
Below I will explain both the general procedure of the analysis and some principles followed when faced with ambiguous situations. This is of utmost importance when conducting a quantitative content analysis, to make sure that coding is always done in a systematic and comparable way (Esaiasson et al. 2014:200).
The search word “China” and/or “Chinese” is used in order to find relevant articles in each newspaper, with the search results sorted by date (newest first). These relatively broad search words will inevitably lead to that many of the articles found will not be relevant when analyzing China-Africa relations. During the pilot study, I found about half to be relevant for this study, the other half consisted of mostly sports related topics or China-US relations. The articles that do not instantly appear irrelevant are thoroughly read in order to identify parts containing arguments or statements to be categorized in accordance with the coding manual. All in all, a total of 586 articles were processed, of which 260 were deemed relevant and coded with a total of 336 views. Due to practical difficulties when it comes to accessing enough relevant material from some websites, between 30 to 90 articles from each newspaper over a time period of about one year and a half (January 2017 to April 2018) were ultimately analyzed. The material is evenly distributed over the three countries. Excel is used for the initial coding as well as most
statistical calculations and illustrations. Every part of the text containing some kind of view, argument or opinion regarding China-Africa relations is included, with the aim of describing all content provided by East African media that could in some way shape perceptions of China- Africa links. However, to keep reliability high, I am with a few exceptions not reading more into the text than what is explicitly expressed or strongly implied. Nor does this seem to be necessary as the pilot study revealed that clear opinions in very direct language is frequently expressed in the chosen magazines.
Moreover, my intention is to code every word, sentence or part of the text, as opposed to only the main argument or overall theme. This so that multiple or opposite opinions will all be taken into account, as well as to avoid vague judgements on what the “main” theme or argument is.
The pilot study gave reason to this logic, finding that articles generally, sometimes even within the same sentence, contain more than one view or conflicting arguments regarding the same issue. Carrying out the investigation in any other way would not make the content justice since this would not reflect the reality met by readers. However, the same view will not be categorized multiple times when expressed multiple times in the same article. This is also based on the pilot study which gave me reasons to believe that doing it any other way would most likely create misleading results by exaggerating what is found most frequently in a way that is not representative to the way the reader would understand the overall content.
Another rather common situation when faced with real material is that an opinion is quoted or expressed, but only in order to make the opposite argument clearer or more effective. In these kinds of cases, where the meaning of words change due to context, special consideration will be taken to this context or “tone”, and not the meaning of the words in themselves. This exemplifies one type of situation where I deem it necessary to stray from my main rule of not interpreting more than necessary, the reason being that it would contribute to skewed results to include a positive quote only used to strengthen a negative viewpoint in a positive category.
3.5. Limitations and methodological shortcomings
When discussing the quality of research, two principles hold special significance. Validity, that the study examines what it intends to examine, and reliability, that measures within the study are precise and accurate and thereby yield the same results on repeated trials. This type of study is more likely to lack in reliability than validity. This because the research question is of a descriptive and uncomplicated nature and clearly connected to the analytical tool and results, but the actual implementation of the study could be considered arbitrary. This study however presents a well argued for and transparent analytical tool and research process (given the comprehensive coding manual in appendix, coding principles in the previous section as well as representative quotes for each category both in the manual and analysis), thereby using the measures available to meet the reliability criteria (Bergström and Boréus 2012:41-43). The large amount of material is a strength in this regard as well, since it increases the likelihood of obtaining on average statistically correct results, even though some individual observations might be coded wrong.
4. Results and analysis
This section will demonstrate the final results of the media analysis as well as describe and discuss the general patterns found. The quantifiable results will be illustrated graphically, starting with the overall results. Thereafter, graphs and quotes taken from the analyzed articles will be used in order to back up relevant findings within each category. Throughout the analysis I will relate these results to survey data, thus answering the third and final research question.
4.1. Overall results
Table 1: Views regarding China-Africa links in East African newspapers (per newspapers)
The result of the media analysis shows that East African newspapers focus mainly on the economic aspects of China-Africa relations, thus mirroring both the general scholarly debate (Large 2008) and the Afrobarometer survey results. Comments regarding job opportunities, economic development and imported products in combination made up 54 percent of observed views in examined articles. This focus is not as one-sided as in the Afrobarometer, where an overwhelming majority stated an economic factor (“investments” or “cost of products”) as the main factor shaping their image of China. Investments can be assumed to be the underlying cause behind a large part of the positively coded values both when it comes to “job opportunities” and “economic development”, as will be further illustrated in the next section.
Worth noting is that the differences between a media analysis and an opinion survey set-up means that these results are of course not fully comparable, but rather makes for an interesting point of reference. Political factors such as the effects of China’s non-interference policy, the nature of the China-Africa relationship and working conditions together made up 27.1 percent of observations, whilst cultural/social and environmental factors made up 13.5 percent and 5.7 percent respectively. These results are further illustrated below.
.
Figure 1: Views regarding China-Africa links in East African newspapers
It differed whether or not the positive or negative view was the most common, although the negative view was observed slightly more frequently in six out of nine categories. However, the high number of articles coded with the view “promoting economic development” as opposed to “undermining economic development” cover these results in the overall division between positive and negative views (where positive views account for 54,7 percent of observations and negative views 45,3 percent). The negative view was however slightly more common when it comes to the other two economic factors, in the end making this the largest contributor to the overall negative results as well.
Figure 2: Positive/Negative views regarding China-Africa links in East African newspapers divided by economic, political, cultural/social and environmental factors.
The Afrobarometer results clearly show that the majority of East Africans think that China's influence in their country is of a positive nature. The results of the media analysis is more ambiguous, showing positive and negative views to be expressed to an almost equal extent.
East African media thus seem to portray China-Africa links in a somewhat more negative light than how the East African population view China on average.
Regarding eventual differences between Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, the results indicate that Tanzanian newspapers cover China-Africa links in a more positive way (68,4 percent positive) than do Kenyan and Ugandan (50 percent and 49,5 percent positive). This makes the region's average results slightly higher than what would have been the case if only including Kenya and Uganda. It might be the case that results from time period would look different, but there is also a possibility that Tanzania's strong historic ties with China (Shen and Taylor 2012) has an effect on media coverage on China-Africa links.
Figure 3: Positive/Negative views regarding China-Africa links in East African newspapers divided by country.
The other variable included was whether the article was written by an African, Chinese or Western reporter or representative. The results show that an overwhelming majority of relevant articles were written by African journalists. 12,7 percent of articles were written by a Chinese national and 3 percent by a Western representative. Chinese representatives expressed almost exclusively positive views, except for one mention regarding poor quality of products.
Important to note is that these articles, however few, made up around 29 percent of total observations coded as “relationship- mutually beneficial” and as much as 40 percent of “cultural exchange or appreciation”. Given that Chinese influence in African media continues to grow, these views are bound to be more frequently expressed in the future. Articles written by Western representatives expressed equal amounts of positive and negative views. Interestingly enough, the view “relationship- neocolonial tendencies” was the most common observation in this category. Since the fact that Chinese actors portray China in a positive way and Western actors shine light on more problematic aspects seems to be a widely accepted pattern in literature, it is probable that these results are not coincidental however few the observations.
Below, the more specific results relating to each category of factors will be presented and discussed.
4.2. Economic factors
Total: 54%
Figure 4: Views regarding economic aspects of China-Africa links in East African newspapers
4.2.1. Economic development
Total: 32.9%
Promoting economic development: 24%
Undermining economic development: 8.9%
The overall most common observation, namely comments implying that China's involvement in East Africa promotes economic development and helps the region industrialize, is found almost three times as often as the second most common view (relationship- mutually beneficial). Even if results found in this study are in any way affected by temporary changes in media content over this particular time period, this considerable difference should make it safe to assume that the view of China promoting economic development in the region is indeed the most commonly emphasized one in East African media.
It is clear that media content concerning economic aspects put a lot of emphasis on
industrialization and the need and will of East African countries to lower youth unemployment rates and reach middle income status. Exactly what it is about China’s involvement that is said to promote economic development vary. A majority mention investment in infrastructure projects, completely in line with the Afrobarometer results, some examples being:
“The continent’s image has dramatically changed from the pessimism of a “hopeless continent” to the optimism of “Africa rising”. This is partly a result of China’s heavy investment across Africa” (Kagwanja 2018)
“Energy Cabinet Secretary (CS) Charles Keter who signed the deal on behalf of the government, lauded the project as massive, which will put the country in the path of industrialisation” (Obala 2018)
Other reasons are also mentioned (although not as frequently), such as China-Africa links providing technology, trade opportunities or events that might help propel the country towards
industrialization. The first example is from an article about an exhibition launching the new
“China-Africa Industrial Capacity Cooperation”, the second is technology-related.
“It will help encourage more Chinese enterprises to go into Africa and accelerate the process of African industrialization to benefit African people across the continent.” (The Standard 2017a)
“He was highly positive that Chinese advanced technology and machinery, to be employed in Tanzania, will play a significant role in boosting productivity in the industrial sector” (Mwakyusa 2018)
Some articles do not specify why or how China-Africa cooperation would promote economic development but simply mentions this as a fact. This kind of language is often found in articles in fact written by the Chinese ambassador to the country. One representative example would be China's ambassador to Kenya, simply stating in an article:
“The China-Kenya cooperation brings along tangible benefits to the people of both countries and promotes the economic and social development of Kenya.” (Xianfa 2018a)
When it comes to the opposite perspective, that China's involvement is undermining long term economic development, the reasons brought up in newspapers are a bit more varied. The most common reason brought up in the examined articles is increasing debt, sometimes in combination with trade imbalance, and that this might strangle any chance at economic growth.
This perspective is illustrated with the following examples:
“The approach has also left the country grappling with a huge debt, already a strain on the economy and trade imbalance skewed in favor of China” (Kamau, Omondi 2018)
“A debt report released in December 2017 shows that Beijing gobbled up nearly half of the funds Kenya spent on external debt repayments in the three months ended September 2017” (Olingo 2018).
Another thing often brought up regarding China-Africa cooperation said to lead to slower economic development is cheap imports hurting local manufacturing capacity as well as increasing dependency on raw material exports.
“However, there are concerns that local producers might be losing out, and by extension, the country’s industrialisation efforts could be scuttled. Chinese imports have already hurt textile and clothing production, a sector that provides 20 percent of all formal manufacturing employment in Kenya” (Omondi 2018).
“Just like in yesteryears, we are still exporting raw commodities. This is the dilemma in our little corner of the world” (Sejjaaka 2018)
Debt and financial dependency is a factor that the Afrobarometer does not include in their survey that seems to be frequently mentioned in both academic literature on the subject as well as national media, raising the question what the results would be if this factor was in fact an option in the survey that people could choose as a negative aspect of Chinese involvement. The results of the media analysis strongly indicate, once again given the assumption that media content and public opinion tend to be closely intertwined, that debt might be a factor to consider.
4.2.2. Job opportunities
Total: 16.3%
Jobs created: 6.8%
Jobs lost: 9.5%
Even though the topics of job opportunities and economic development are tightly intertwined, they are more often than not mentioned as two separate issues in news articles. Most mentions of China's involvement creating jobs were found in articles about new China-funded projects and how many locals would need to be employed, or in a text arguing that China does employ locals even though some say otherwise, for instance:
“Chinese firms, on average, employ twice as many locals as other foreign companies” (Mutambo 2018)
Most mentions of China’s involvement in fact not resulting in more local jobs as promised or expected, or even fewer than before, were found in articles debating that Chinese tend to not hire Africans or that different types of competition with the Chinese have pushed locals away.
“We witness the model that the Chinese follow, they do not bring significant job creation locally, they do not bring training programmes that enable Africans to participate more fully in the future” (Kamau 2018)
During this specific time period the issue of overfishing in Lake Victoria along with cheap Chinese fish imports driving locals out of business was widely reported in both Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. This would be the only example of one story potentially coded several times that could affect the results slightly.
“The massive fish imports from China led to job losses in the fish industry both in Western Kenya. The imports have also flooded the Coastal towns” (Oywa, Mbenywe 2018).
The Afrobarometer includes “taking jobs or businesses from locals” as a factor potentially shaping negative images of China. This was the second most common response in their survey, making it rather unsurprising to also find a considerable number of articles expressing this view in newspapers. The view of China providing more job opportunities is something the Afrobarometer does not provide any indications on, but there is a possibility that this view is
“hidden” in their option relating to investment.
4.2.3. Imported products
Total: 4.8%
Affordability: 1.2%
Poor quality: 3.6%
When it comes to the not very frequently reported issue of price versus quality of cheap products imported from China, both of these aspects are often lifted in the same article:
“Most of the phones sold in Kenya are China-made. Tecno, Huawei and Infinix are the most popular phones in Kenya and Africa, because their prices are favourable to low-income communities that make
the majority of the population. They are built to give you some modest service for a short time and for a pocket-friendly price, and then they die.” (Wambugu 2018).
Most frequently mentioned in the “poor quality” category however, is Africa's problem with fake products, especially medicines.
“The WHO estimates that one out of 10 medicines in the world is fake but the figure can be as high as seven out of 10 in certain countries, especially in Africa” (New Vision 2018a)
These results do not match the Afrobarometers, where “quality of Chinese products” is incontestably the most common response to the question of what contributes to a negative image of China, “cost of products” being the second most common in the positive category (behind “investment”). These results are however not necessarily surprising, once again pointing to the differences between a media analysis and an opinion survey. The cost and quality of products imported from China is something that East Africans are met with on a daily basis, probably affecting a lot of people's daily life in a significant way. The question is how often this topic would make for an interesting news article. Probably not as often, which could explain why this seems to be a major factor when asking people directly but a minor one when it comes to media coverage.
4.3. Political factors
Total: 27%
Figure 5: Views regarding political aspects of China-Africa links in East African newspapers
4.3.1. Relationship
Total: 16.9%
Mutually beneficial: 10.1%
Neocolonial tendencies: 6.8%
Articles bringing up aspects related to the nature of the China-Africa relationship was the second most common observation in the examined articles, somewhat in line with academic
research where this is also widely covered. This issue is not included at all in the Afrobarometer, although in some way incorporated in the option “support in international affairs” which received a very small number of responses. Basically, sections coded as showing the “mutually beneficial”-view are mostly those that explicitly say that China and Africa enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship where African nations are driven by their own interests and benefits equally to China. The expression “win-win” was a frequent indicator. Articles mentioning selfless efforts by China to share knowledge, skills or equipment were also found. Two representative examples were:
“This country is engaging with partners from across the world driven by our own interest and for our own value” (Achuka 2018)
“In the paper China’s Engagement with Africa; From Natural Resources to Human Resources, Dr Dollar argues that China’s engagement with Africa is a win-win relationship for both regions”
(Sunday 2018)
Similar explicit or very obvious types of comments were coded as showing a more neocolonial view of the China-Africa relationship. Which, to clarify, should not be interpreted as
“neocolonialism” by definition but rather as perspectives in which African nations appear to be used by China, controlled by China or in other ways not profiting equally from the relationship, such as:
“There is a potential for the objectives of the African Union to be dictated by China’s interests”
(Barungi 2018).
“The Chinese are not here for charitable reasons. If we continue sleeping they too will exploit and mess us around in the same way the Americans and others have done all along” (Golooba-Mutebi 2018)
This being said, examples of outright claims or neocolonialism was also occasionally found, for instance:
“It can be compared to the infamous ‘Scramble for Africa’ of two centuries ago except that this time round China aims to conquer the whole world” (Ronno 2018)
4.3.2. Non-interference
Total: 9%
Self-rule: 3.3%
Undermining democracy: 5.7%
“Self-rule” was often spoken of as an intrinsic value in the examined articles, perhaps unsurprising considering the regions colonial history. Also unsurprising was that China was more often than not compared and put in relation to West, and especially the US, in articles coded in this category.
“While the Chinese are not promoting human rights or democratic freedom, they are not punishing African countries for their trade policies for the purpose of defending tiny Chinese industries. It is absolutely clear which superpower is willing to allow African countries to make their own policy
