Presentation short abstract

China's increasing engagement and influence have sparked anti-Chinese sentiment and protests in several African countries. By examining the puzzling case of Guinea, we argue that the key to understanding the occurrence of anti-China protests lies in the political economy of China's presence.

Presentation long abstract

As China's engagement in Africa is growing, so is anti-Chinese suspicion and protest against Chinese influence. In our paper, we examine the circumstances that lead to anti-China protest. Previous studies found that these protests occur depending on the scale of China's economic influence, the regime type, and efforts of political instrumentalization. To elaborate on these theories, we study the striking case of Guinea. While the country has been a likely case for anti-China protest, based on the prevailing theories, such protest has been very rare. We therefore examine Chinese actors and the local responses in Guinea, especially regarding the bauxite mining regions, by drawing on protest event data and interviews. Refining political economy explanations, we show that anti-China protests depend less on the scale of Chinese investment than previously assumed. What matters, we argue, are corporate practices and the integration of Chinese actors into the domestic political economy. In Guinea, there has been no anti-China backlash due to high economic dependence on Chinese companies as well as cooptation through their CSR programs and Guinea’s mining regime. We conclude by suggesting that this argument could be relevant beyond the Guinean case to explain the occurrence and absence of anti-China protests.