Re-telling the ‘China-Africa story’

While the ‘China-Africa story’ has been told through the lenses of many disciplines, it has yet to find its proper place in International Relations (IR). This paper argues that in order to obtain a more comprehensive account of Sino-African relations, constructivism provides us with the most appropriate IR approach. Using the example of Sino-African security relations, I argue that constructivism highlights the historical and ideological roots of Chinese understandings of sovereignty and non-interference. Such history and ideology, in turn, influence current foreign policy debates around security, which seem to suggest that China is ready to become a ‘norms-maker’.