Exploring China-Kenya Relations — From 600 Years Ago and Today

ABC's Dana Hughes reports from Nairobi: Next month, Chinese and Kenyan archaeologists will team up for their own version of a modern-day treasure hunt. They’ll begin searching for a 600-year-old Chinese ship that is believed to have wrecked off the northern coast of Kenya, and could be an important clue to early ties between the two countries. The ship was part of a 300-fleet armada commanded by the Chinese explorer Zheng He during the Ming Dynasty that eventually landed in the Kenyan town of Malindi around 1418. Recently, Ming porcelain was found in the area, prompting both the Chinese government and the Kenyan government to explore further. "We have a lot of mixed Chinese pots dating back to that period so we know the ship must have sailed sometime here," Herman Kiriama, the head of coastal archaeology in Kenya, told BBC. "It will be a big achievement because it will tell us a lot about what happened in the Indian Ocean before the European powers — Spain, Portugal — started their trading routes to India." The three-year project is primarily being funded by the Chinese government, costing around $3 million.  There has been a resurgence of interest in Zheng’s travels in recent years. He was believed to have been a type of "global ambassador" for the Ming Dynasty.  China considers his legacy to be that of a peaceful arbitrator — opening China up to the world using trade rather than war, particularly in Africa. Besides trading with Kenyans, there is evidence some of Zheng’s crew stayed in the country, marrying local women. In 2005, as part of the run-up to the 600-year anniversary of his explorations, China sent scientists to Kenya to test the DNA of coastal Kenyans believed to have Chinese ancestry. The Chinese government often uses Zheng’s trade example as a counterbalance to the brutalities of European colonialism. Some Western scholars dispute the idea that Zheng was strictly peaceful, accusing the Chinese of revisionist history to serve its current foreign policy stances. It’s a storyline playing itself out today as China is once again the largest investor in Africa. Last year trade between the regions stood at more than $100 billion. In May, China and Nigeria signed a $23 billion oil deal, one of the largest investments the country’s made into the continent. Even its interest in the Kenyan coastline extends beyond archaeology. The country is also the primary funder of a new port to be built off Lamu, a town located off the northern coast of Kenya. Throughout the continent China is building roads, buildings and desperately needed infrastructure. But China’s development in Africa is not without its critics. Human rights groups and Western governments have expressed concern about the country’s growing influence in the region. They say China’s support of dubious regimes like Sudan and lack of concern over human rights and environmental issues are more detrimental for Africa in the long term, despite the short-term benefits of the relationship. Chinese officials maintain that unlike the West, which they accuse of having hypocritical policies toward sub-Saharan Africa and using and abusing the continent’s resources without any benefit to its people, China is as interested in trade and development as it is in profit. "China treats Africa as political equals" Liu Xinsheng, the Chinese ambassador to Tanzania, told a crowd at last year’s World Economic Forum on Africa, saying that the country views Africans as "mature" enough to make their own government and policy decisions. African governments, Kenya included, are grateful for China’s continued investment, but have said they will demand more of an equal partnership between the regions.  Whether it’s building roads, mining resources or digging for lost treasure.