Dr. Maria Repnikova (Georgia State): "China's Image-Making in Africa: Competing for Soft Power in the Shadows of the West"

Through the critical case study of Ethiopia; Dr: Repnikova's research identifies three core mechanisms of China's image making in Africa: tangible enticement through material and experiential offerings, ideational promotion of values and governance practices, and censorial influence through guarding the production and diffusion of China narratives. The in-depth fieldwork in China and Ethiopia further demonstrates the fractures in China's image-making as Chinese messengers can improvise official agendas and Ethiopian recipients strategically appropriate and negotiate Chinese power: Counterintuitively China's engagement with Africa has also reinforced a shared longing for the West as a professional destination and standard setter: Challenging the popular claims about China as replacing the West in the Global South, therefore, this study reveals the ambitions. but also the inconsistencies in China's influence wielding, as well as the looming shadow of the West in mediating the Sino African encounter.