Africa Policy Research Institute: Exploring the Role of Narratives in China-Africa Relations (afripoli.org/exploring-the-role-of-narratives-in-china-africa-relations) by Folashadé Soulé, Lina Benabdallah, Yunnan Chen, Yu-Shan Wu, and Cobus van Staden.

China and Russia supported the African colonies freedom fighters. The Chinese Premiere Dzou Enlai visited President Kwame Nkrumah four times in Accra Ghana. Russia built a city Kwabenya and supplied the buildings , personnel and machinery to produce radio isotopes. Russia also built silos for Ghana cocos to escape the United States hegemon deflating the price of cocoa. China and Russia have favors to call in. Thanks for your information and commitment.

Corbus and Eric, I like your podcasts and admire your attempts at neutrality. However, very often when challenged, you resort to evidence from [flawed] authority and seek shelter in academic opinion. Academia is flawed and not objective - especially in the non-quantitative humanities, with academics often resorting to casuistry when the evidence contradicts the ideological/geopolitical direction that benefits their academic aspirations or benefactors. In short, the environment from which an academic is speaking influences their interpretation of global events, and very often they speak to their career credibility, prestige, and aspirations [amongst peers] unless speaking anonymously. This is especially so for academics who have chosen to be employed by privately funded think tanks. For instance, the Rockefeller Foundation known historically for eugenics and population control, funds opinions and narratives on China-Africa. The Western media remains the most powerful organ of influence in the world. It is not objective, and its slurs live on beyond the realization of factual truth. Africans unfortunately are heavily influenced at both grassroots and leadership levels by the output of the Western media. How else can you account for the disqualification of Chinese investments in Africa such as the $10 billion Bagamoyo Port project while a similar project in S. America, the Chancay Port project approaches completion. This illuminates the damage to African economic interests that is being done by the Western narrative. And it is even more insidious, as the China 'debt trap' narrative led African countries to shun Chinese infrastructure 'Capital Investment' loans (at 3% interest) that would have laid the groundwork for restructuring their economies with greater economic throughput and exports, instead enthusiastically adopting Western commercial Eurobond loans (at 7% +) for recurrent fiscal support. With rising US interests these loans now command 10% + in interest payments. No surprise, that with the turn in the economic cycle, African countries [now swimming naked] have greater nominal debts than they ever had. Leading to protests and food riots in Kenya and Nigeria. That is the disservice that academic equivocations - on challenging the Western 'Jedi mind tricks' narratives on economic facts, have done to Africa. It is also a symptom of what the pervasive presence of Indian academics - tacitly pushing anti-China narratives [the source of the Sri Lanka debt trap narrative adopted by the West], in the field of 'development economics' has enabled. Allowing the West to influence [gaslight] the weak-minded to its will - with its 'Cosby Show' propaganda - and ultimately maintain its geopolitical hegemony. I go so far as to paraphrase the words of Harriet Tubman into China's intent: “I helped many debt-enslaved nations; I could have helped a lot more if only they knew they were debt-enslaved nations” As to the Chinese narrative, its critical consideration by your podcast is a distraction. It is nowhere as powerful or as effective as the organs that broadcast the Western narrative. Besides, the Chinese by their recent (< 50 years) involvement in Africa can be permitted some leeway or mistakes in their narrative. Comparing the Western and Chinese narratives without consideration for the length of Western involvement in Africa (> 400 years) makes for an unbalanced comparative bias. It is akin to comparing the essays of a high school student with that of a professor.

Rules based, lol, we all know by now that means the US rules and can change whatever international laws to suit its interests. In fact, there are no rules in the US' Rules Based Order. Show me where the US rules are written.