Africa has gone Chinese. For the past ten years the People’s Republic of China has been building up its investments in Africa, where it is now a major player. Beijing’s policies have a negative effect on both France’s economic influence and its political role, which Paris has often had to accept with resignation. Nevertheless, at the last France-Africa summit, in February 2007, President Jacques Chirac described China’s engagement with Africa as positive. So should China really be considered a threat to our interests?
