The Star Raft: China's Encounter With Africa

From the cover (mostly): 75 years before Columbus crossed the Atlantic, a fleet of Chinese treasure ships came to the East African coast. The scale of this landfall was so colossal that it makes the Genoese explorer look like an amateur. The fleet was called the Star Raft, and its arrival marked the beginning of formal contacts between China and Africa. For Snow the Star Raft is also a metaphor for the great descents made by China on Africa in our own time. During the last 30 years the Chinese have worked to nudge Africa out from the European shadow, and have challenged both Western and Soviet interests in independent African states. As the Western tide recedes, the early contacts are being renewed and strengthened. This book is an important one in light of the shifting alliances in the so-called Third World countries and the ever active Chinese government.