China and the Construction of Strategic Relations with African Countries. Case Study: China's Contradictory Position Regarding the Principle of Non-Intervention

Abstract

"The purpose of this article is to explain the process of building strategic relations between China and African countries since the Cold War period. Then, the article focuses on Beijing's contradictory position regarding the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states. In the first part, the text explains the context in which the Sino-African ties have consolidated after the Afro-Asian Bandung Conference and then during the Chinese reform and opening process, in order to catapult the People's Republic of China to global great power status. Here, ""great power"" is understood according to the postulates of Nicholas Spykman. Throughout the article, it becomes evident how, while China has been maximizing its power, its position has been contradictory with its defense of the principle of non-intervention from three perspectives: its position in the Security Council as a permanent member; its intervention in the economy of African states, initially in the oil industry; and its military support to states in internal or inter-state conflict in Africa. This contradictory position is reiterated in recent years with its globalization proposal called bri (Belt & Road Initiative) and its impact on African countries."