In a discussion with a Chinese translator, the contradictions of Chinese involvement on the African continent become very clear: like many foreigners, he employs racist stereotypes (lazy workers, who demand weekends off to go to church and spend time with the family, etc.). But shortly after, he told us that he had recently visited his family in China after having been away for quite some time so as to visit his father in the hospital, who had fallen sick from hard labor. He invested his wages into helping his father recover. Then he told us that he doesn’t want to work as hard as his parents’ generation did.

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