Is China’s Diplomatic Discourse Lagging behind Africa’s Diplomatic Practice?

Abstract

Among dozens of books published recently on China in Africa, I think few have implications as profound and as far-reaching as The New Kings of Crude by Luke Patey. but let me discribe the book briefly before I assess the implications. It is a thoroughly researched and denselywritten book. The endnotes alone are packed in 62 single-spaced pages and include materials not only in English but also in the Chinese language. The data are derived from primary sources(unstructured interviews) and secondaire  unconventional structure that combines ons ( written documents) using an unconventional structure that combines  the features of a travelogue and a scholarly treatise, of a novel and a survey research report, and of a news report and philosophical analysis, the book chronicles the history of oil companies from China and India in the Sudan.