IN PART ONE

FEATURE:
- Firoze Manji explains why this special issue of China has been launched as a taster to a forthcoming book.

-Stephen Marks asks what is the true nature of Chinese involvement in Africa? Is it colonialism revisited?

COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- John Rocha examines some of the implications for Africa related to both positive and negative aspects and the meaning of China’s involvement for Nepad’s African Peer Review Mechanism.

- Anabela Lemos and Daniel Ribeiro write, after so many years of being colonised by the Portuguese, “are we now being colonised again, in the name of development but under the new flag of ‘economic partnerships with China’?”

- Ali Askouri argues that China's presence in Sudan ought to be challenged on all fronts. “China must be made aware that its opportunistic involvement with dictatorship carries a price for trade and investment inside China”

- John Karumbidza writes that the benefits that Zimbabwe has gained for trading with China include the political preservation of Mugabe reign and personal aggrandizement through corruption and kickbacks by his ZANU PF cronies.

AND IN PART TWO:

- Moreblessings Chidaushe cautions that while China might assist Africa to a certain degree, it is not, will not and should not be expected to solve all of Africa’s problems.

- Michelle Chan-Fishel points out that the Chinese low-price development model comes at a very high cost. “The untold story of China’s rapid economic growth is one characterised by vast levels of income disparity, unfair treatment of workers and lost livelihoods, especially in the rural areas.”

- The question of whether China can ‘prosper where others have failed’ could be inverted: “can Africa benefit in longer term, more sustainable and more representative ways from China’s enhanced attention and links with Africa in ways that departure from established patterns with external powers?,” writes Daniel Large.

- Ndubisi Obiorah points out that while China's rapidly expanding engagement in Africa is enthusiastically welcomed by African governments and some African intellectuals, “China's relations with Africa's governments is often perceived among human rights NGOs and Western commentators as increasingly problematic for governance and human rights in Africa.”

- Kwesi Kwaa Prah speaks to Pambazuka News about the history of Chinese engagement in Africa. You can also hear the interview in a special Pambazuka News Podcast.

- BLOGGING AFRICA: Sokari Ekine reports that the South African Chinese community is going to court to demand that they be racially reclassified as either as a so-called “coloured” or black.