Summary

Hao Shengli and author Howard French had many conversations over a span of several days. Hao made his new home on farmland in Mozambique. He picked up French at his hotel, cursing and complaining about the many dialects in mainland China that had to be contended with. Hao pleaded with French to speak with his chauffeur in Portuguese and tell him where they wanted to go. His rudeness rivaled that of the Ugly American a generation before.

China had made serious investments in Africa over the past decade. In 1996 Jiang Zemin, then head of state, in an official visit to Ethiopia, proposed the creation of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Jiang encouraged his countrymen to look for business opportunities in Africa. Six years later when French was working in China, Jiang’s Forum convened for the first time with 53 African...