Introduction

In December 2022, the China Daily newspaper ran an opinion piece titled “Will Americans Imitate China’s Approach to Africa?” The article was making reference to the US–Africa Summit organized by the US in Washington DC hosting several African state leaders. Summit diplomacy has become a staple in China–Africa relations as Beijing hosted the first Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in the year 2000 and there have been eight editions of the summit since then. It is in this context that the author of this China Daily article and many others have wondered if the US was mimicking China’s foreign policy approach in Africa. To be able to understand if Beijing has been socializing the US in transforming its approach to Africa by imitating its own, we have to first understand what summit diplomacy tells us about the values and norms underpinning Beijing’s approach in Africa.

In June 2021, Uganda’s President Museveni appointed the new Party Secretary for the country’s ruling party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM), Richard Todwong. A few moments after the announcement, the party’s website shared that China congratulated the new Party Secretary for his appointment (National Resistance Movement 2021b). As it turns out, in 2019, Todwong had participated in a three-month training at Peking University sponsored by the Chinese government for elites to learn about governance from Communist Party of China (CPC) experts. In an interview with Xinhua about the training, he highlighted how “African leaders could learn governance philosophy of the CPC, as the party is committed to a people-centered philosophy of development” (Xinhua 2021a). Similarly, at the 100th anniversary of the CPC (in July 2021), Todwong filmed a video message congratulating China, thanking the CPC for its mentorship, resources, and friendship with African political parties, and stating that the NRM will continue to “walk in the footsteps of the Communist Party” to achieve development and wellbeing for the Ugandan people (National Resistance Movement 2021b).

By contrast, the news of Todwong’s accession as the head of the NRM did not make it to US news outlets despite having also trained in the US before going to China. Such variance suggests a difference in China’s relational approach that puts a premium not only on training African elites but also on setting up mechanisms to follow (celebrate, for example) the political achievements of African elites trained in China.