China's media and public diplomacy approach in Africa: illustrations from South Africa

Media engagement in Africa is a component of China's contemporary strategy of public diplomacy, which is aimed at promoting deep bilateral diplomatic and economic relations. This article provides the context and impetus that have motivated Chinese state media players to provide their own content and points of view since 2009. Although China's public diplomacy seeks to achieve a widely enabling environment rather than specific objectives, its singular approach to the dynamic and changing continent of Africa is overly simple. In this article, the case study of South Africa is used to demonstrate the limits and potential of China's engagement in public diplomacy. This article also highlights the nature of South Africa-China relations and the South African landscape as defining factors that affect China's meaningful engagement in that country.