Developing south-south cooperation between China and Africa: a case study on South Africa

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi, Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2017

Öğrenci: YAĞMUR ERŞAN

Danışman: IŞIK KUŞÇU BONNENFANT

Özet:

Since World War II, the development of Southern countries has become one of the most important issues in the world agenda. As the Global South has developed, it has started to challenge the existing international system. Although the Southern countries face some challenging domestic problems, they have significant potential in the 21st century. China is the largest developing country, and it is willing to lead these Southern countries to change the existing global system to serve the interests of developing countries as well. In this respect, it deeply cooperates and collaborates with the African countries. The bilateral cooperation has been strengthening in economic, political, social and international terms within the framework of South-South cooperation. Although some claim that Chinese economic policies towards Africa are neomercantilist, in this thesis, it is claimed that, although there are some practices which could be considered neomercantilist, in general, China-Africa relations currently better fit within the South-South cooperation framework, which is seen as ‘win-win’ by both China and African countries. This cooperation not only serves the interests of China and African countries, but also that of other Southern countries as it challenges the traditional order, which mostly benefits the Northern countries. In this regard, the relationship between China and South Africa is an important case for South-South cooperation. It shows that an African country can have more symmetrical relations with China.