The New York Times international edition published an article on 25 August 2023 with the headline: China strives to increase its influence in Africa. What does this mean? What does ‘increasing influence’ mean in practical terms?
The subject of the headline is China, and the first sentence of the article tells readers that President Xi Jinping of China is travelling to Africa. Good start. What is the President going to do in Africa to increase China’s influence there?
The second paragraph‘s subject is BRICS. What is BRICS? BRICS is the acronym for five countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The group was formed in 2006 and their first summit was held in June 2009. The article does not inform readers about BRICS until paragraph 13. For twelve paragraphs, the article writes about BRICS, not China. China as the headline’s subject is not mentioned again until the second half of the article.
The headline states that China is striving to increase its influence in Africa. The online Cambridge Dictionary defines ‘influence as ‘the power to have an effect on people or things, or a person or thing that is able to do this’ and the Merriam Webster defines it as ‘the power or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways.’ Neither definition is particularly enlightening.
The word ‘influence’ is mentioned for the first time in paragraph 11, but not in relation to China. Instead, it is mentioned in relation to the rest of the world. ‘Africa is an emerging battleground for global influence,’ states the article. This sentence doesn’t provide enough information. ‘Influence’ is next mentioned in paragraphs 13 and 16, in relation to ‘… the influence of forums like the North Atlanta Treaty Organization.’ That’s NATO. The article does not provide information on NATO. NATO, established in 1949, has grown to be an international military alliance of 31 countries. The five BRICS countries are not members of NATO.
Paragraph 11 states that Beijing has ‘poured billions of dollars in loans, aid, and investment in countries [in Africa] that have long been ignored by the West.’ Paragraphs 25 and 26 provide more answers to our initial question – China is providing ‘support and friendship’ to South Africa ‘to rebuild and transform’ the country ‘after the devastation of apartheid … South Africa is China’s largest trading partner in Africa, and it serves as a key transit point for commodities exported from other countries on the continent to China.’
There is a brief statement about China’s past spending spree in Africa on ‘highways and dams’ and adds that ‘these projects came with crippling debt in countries like Zambia and Angola, both of which owe billions of dollars to Chinese state-owned banks.’
The word ‘influence’ is mentioned in the last sentence of the last paragraph (#29): Willy Lam, an analyst of Chinese politics is quoted as saying, ‘China as a whole is running out of money … This has been a big impediment to Beijing’s plans to extend its influence in the developing world.’ Not Africa, specifically, but in all developing countries.
Therefore, the article eventually informs its readers that China is striving to increase its influence in Africa through the power and capacity of money. However, the article spends more space discussing BRICS, South Africa, and other developing countries, and less space on exactly how China plans to increase its influence in Africa with the money. In fact, the article remains as vague as the Chinese government. The article says that China ‘pointed to vague initiatives around development and security that analysts say are aimed at weakening the spread of Western liberal values.’
My Scorecard for The New York Times international edition headline is 30%. The article is disjointed, confusing, and lacks critical information and specificity; and does not reflect its headline. A different headline might be in order here.
MARTINA NICOLLS
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Martina Nicolls is an Australian author and international human rights-based consultant in education, healing and wellbeing, peace and stabilisation, and foreign aid audits and evaluations.
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