Um eixo problemático: as relações sino-sudanesas e a evolução da projeção chinesa na África

Abstract

This master thesis presents the relations between the People´s Republic of China (PRC) and the African states through the case of the Republic of Sudan. Aiming at identifying the reasons and methods behind the current Chinese interactions with the African continent a bibliographical and documental research is made highlighting the practical examples of this relation. In the first chapter a historical panorama of the Sino-African relations since the 1950´s until the decade of the 2010´s is presented, establishing a connection between the changes occurred inside and with the PRC and the African continent, and the existing dynamics among the two actors. In the second chapter the political and economical trajectory of the region where the Sudanese state – and later South Sudan - is located is presented showing the country´s colonial past, the challenges in building a nation from such distinct people and cultures and its vulnerability before the great powers. The third chapter focus on the involvement of the PRC with Sudan, providing a closer and singular perspective about how the Asian power handled other developing countries in the past and how it´s doing so lately. The conclusion affirms that the intense participation of the PRC in peace missions in Sudan and South Sudan and the demonstrations of concern regarding Human Rights are derivative from both the need imposed by the growing contact with the internal instabilities of these countries and also the desire to present itself as a responsible state inside the international system, considering that the PRC performance towards Sudan exemplifies the country´s a broader involvement with African states.