China's Second Continent

How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa

By: Howard W. French

Narrated by: Don Hagen

Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

An exciting, hugely revealing account of China’s burgeoning presence in Africa - a developing empire already shaping - and reshaping - the future of millions of people. A prizewinning foreign correspondent and former New York Times bureau chief in Shanghai and in West and Central Africa, Howard French is uniquely positioned to tell the story of China in Africa. Through meticulous on-the-ground reporting - conducted in Mandarin, French, and Portuguese, among other languages - French crafts a layered investigation of astonishing depth and breadth as he engages not only with policy-shaping moguls and diplomats, but also with the ordinary men and women navigating the street-level realities of cooperation, prejudice, corruption, and opportunity forged by this seismic geopolitical development. With incisiveness and empathy, French reveals the human face of China’s economic, political, and human presence across the African continent - and in doing so reveals what is at stake for everyone involved. Part intrepid travelogue, part cultural census, part industrial and political exposé, French’s keenly observed account ultimately offers a fresh perspective on the most pressing unknowns of modern Sino-African relations: Why China is making the incursions it is, just how extensive its cultural and economic inroads are, what Africa’s role in the equation is, and just what the ramifications for both parties - and the watching world - will be in the foreseeable future.

©2014 Howard W. French (P)2014 Gildan Media LLC

Critic reviews

“China’s trade with Africa has grown dramatically…But China’s investments…are less significant for this rapidly evolving relationship, according to this 15-country survey by veteran African correspondent French, than the significant flow of new Chinese immigrants—often pushed out by the pressure and oppression back home as much as lured by opportunity. In vivid first-person reportage, French explores this momentous phenomenon, while challenging assumptions about China and Chinese immigrants…The book will appeal to students of China and Africa, and anyone interested in the shifting contours of the global economy and its geopolitical consequences.”—Publishers Weekly

IMPORTANT READING

If you could sum up China's Second Continent in three words, what would they be?

Anyone African or American wishing to prepare for the new world order will want to read this. Very well done. Great narration. As devastating as it is inspiring. Should also be read by students of history and those fascinated by Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

Excellent book, very Informative

Content was great, covered many different areas of the Chinese migration to Africa. The author definitely had a unique insight into this phenomenon as he spoke various languages and knew the continent pretty well.

About Africa today

Having lived during more than two years in Ghana I remain interested in the African continent. This book is reminiscent of what we saw. Everybody who wants to know more about what is going on in Africa today should get this book.

Very elucidating with a unexpected glimmer of hope

This book is impressive on multiple levels. Firstly, Mr.French's apparent command of the Mandarin language has to be highly proficient to have facilitated all these interviews. Secondly, his journalism is sophisticated and spares no nuance when describing the differing elements at play in this ostensibly neo-colonization of Africa. French, unlike so many China hawks recognizes the CPP's political objectives, but consistently reveals the very real problem China has of maintaining an authoritarian state via the many interviews of people who are effectively fleeing from the state's far-reaching chokehold. French's interviews of various Chinese nationals reveals just how tenuous the apparent national unity of China is because despite the facade of unity, all the cultural, class, and socioeconomic limitations differences between the provinces are actually Chinese nationals to leave China. It is somewhat depressing if not predictable to see the political complicity of African leaders handing over the vast resources of Africa to Chinese entities without much knowledge or regard for getting a better deal for African people. But I don't think it will leave the reader hopeless because the very foil to authoritarianism is freedom (and options), and so many Chinese nationals express they are motivated to leave China because there's so little social and class mobility there. I think this presents an opportunity, and may indicate that the metaphorical castle will fall from within, as Chinese nationals are attrated away from submission to the CPP to places where when they get a taste of freedom even if it is unfettered to the point of seemingly impunity because of the monetary disparities between China and the 54 African countries. Though, Chinese people will have to recognize that they cannot completely exhaust the natural resources of African if they want to sustain whatever markets they develop by using those resources.

Fascinating perspective on Chinese influence in Africs

The book contrasts China's extensive and smart, but cynical and disrespectful development with a few low key Western social aid programs. I would’ve liked it to.invlufe an update, since the publication date was 2014.
Although the Chinese seem to have a clear upper hand right now, I wonder if various African governments will develop resentments and simply throw them ou5. It has happened before.

Outstanding

So much insight to be gained from this book. The stories feel very real and raw. They both illustrate the Chinese entrepreneurial approach and the complexity of the relationships of Chinese migrants with local populations in several African countries. Loved this.

China and Africa together

I enjoyed the journey through Africa with Howard French. The different countries and Chinese people, the way they're building their lives in a new continent, how they interact with the Africans, all makes for a great story. This is a great opportunity to learn something new.

Excellent content read by an incompetent

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator

Would you be willing to try another one of Don Hagen’s performances?

Not a chance. He mispronounces almost every word of Mandarin in a book about China and a remarkable number of basic English words too. He reads without emotion or understanding and should be in a different line of work if he thinks he did an acceptable job here.

Interesting story by a great story teller

If you could sum up China's Second Continent in three words, what would they be?

Insightful, educational, enjoyable

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The author's ability to speak Chinese and have the people he visited tell their story

He knows Both Africa and China

What did you love best about China's Second Continent?

What caught me off guard from the beginning and kept me curious till the end was the way the author went straight to the people he was writing about, and he did so at a very personal level. Sitting with them (both africans and chinese living in Africa), interviewing them, travelling with them, eating with them, observing them, relating with chinese culture and places which he happens to know very well, not to mention the languages that he speaks, English French, Chinese, and who knows what else. I mean, Howard French is good.We africans like to complain about non-africans writing books about Africa, but Howard French has immersed himself in our politics and culture well enough to teach us a whole lot about ourselves.

Which scene was your favorite?

Rather than one single scene, I was particularly moved ( and "moved" is probably not the right word here) by the fact that every single chinese that the author spoke with agreed on one general fact: "Africans are lazy and/or dishonest beyond normal ". This is not easy to digest, and every young african need to hear it.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"This is what our helpers think about us."