Trefor Moss writes:

The newly published China’s Aid and Soft Power in Africa by Kenneth King, an emeritus professor at the University of Edinburgh, focuses more narrowly on China’s educational programs in Africa and finds similar levels of approval among local beneficiaries. King not only documents the teaching of Chinese language in Africa on an increasingly grand scale, but also the thousands of scholarships which send Africans to study at Chinese universities, and the professional seminars which bring thousands of African businesspeople to China for sought-after learning experiences. Once again, these educational efforts are packaged respectfully – they are an attempt to show Africans how China does things, not a means of lecturing Africans about how they should do things.

Are these soft power initiatives on China’s part? “That is surely the intention,” says King in an interview with The Diplomat. But whether they are or not, soft power is what China appears to be accruing from these educational projects. “African students are very positive about their exposure to China and the Chinese culture of learning and hard work,” King says. “People are saying: ‘This has changed the way I think about work.’ And it’s the sheer number of Africans who are going to China.”

China inspiring Africans: Isn’t that soft power in a nutshell?

Read more: https://thediplomat.com/2013/06/04/soft-power-china-has-plenty/?all=true