The Star Raft: China's Encounter With Africa
Reviewed by Jennifer Seymour Whitaker
At the outset this history of Sino-African connections appears to exaggerate the importance of anti-Western bonds between two highly unlikely Third World cultures. As it moves forward, however, the account accurately and richly represents what is for both China and Africa a pretty marginal relationship, through a wealth of painstakingly researched new detail. Mixing mutual fascination and incomprehension, the Chinese-African encounter has the charm of an occasional and gentle minuet.
