AbstractsPolitical Science

Since the end of colonization and the subsequent accession of former colonies to independence, foreign aid has always played an important role in Africaâs political economy. Previously designed to solve imminent economic crises faced by Europe at the end of the Second World War, it has now become the major source of funding for many African countries for the last 50 years. Aid as a concept has been influenced by western paradigms and economic theories and throughout the years, it has evolved from bilateral tomultilateral level with international financial Institutions such as the World Bank and IMFas itsmain actors. However,the recent emergence of a new type of donors, particularly China, Brazil, and Korea is gradually undermining the influence of traditional western donors. Contrary to traditional donors, these emerging donors usually engage in bilateral relation with recipient countries and have once belonged to the group of developing countries themselves, or are still considered developing countries as in the case of China and Brazil. This type of cooperation between developing countries is called south-south cooperation with China seen as the prominent actor. The growing presence of China in the developing world in general and Africa in particular and the focus on commodity as the main sources of transaction has led to accusations of neo-imperialism, neocolonialism and exploitationby many traditional donors. Our research goes beyond this rhetoric and argues that African states are not passive receptacles of Chinese aid and investment, but rather very active and motivated partners who have in mind their own domestic interests. In addition, since Chinaâs renewed interest to Africa in beginning of the year 2000, economic outcomes as a result of this engagement have shown positive results: highGDP growth rates, increase in GDP per capita, and increase in GNI. Our analysis of Chinese aid to sub-Saharan Africa reveals that the focus of Chinese cooperation on growth oriented activitiessuch as trade, investment;infrastructure development and the building of special economic zones have created spillovers for social and economic development in Africa. Therefore, the relation between China and Africa is not only beneficial to China but also to Africa. In countries such as Angola and Niger, China is very welcomed and many people see in it a source of countless opportunities. The reasons stem from the fact that relation with China could bring industrialization with many countries in Africa reaping the fruit of Chinaâs experience of development. Our findings from the analysis of Chinese aid to Sub-Saharan Africa showthat Chinese foreign assistance reflects the concept of south-south cooperation and is based on a realistic relation. Both regions are motivated by their domestic needs and derive some benefits from their relations. Therefore, the argument of a dependent relation between China and Africa does not hold given that African agency is at work in this relation. We can see that the countries in our case study African are… Advisors/Committee Members: Chiang, Chia-Hsiung (chair), Dr. Lin, Teh-chang (committee member), Fahn, Jiin-ming (chair), Lin,Chien-Hsiung (chair), Dr.Chu,Chin-Peng (chair).