Africans in China: A Sociocultural Study and Its Implications on ...

as dealing with all countries within the African Union, especially those which recognize the One-China policy.

However, the realities are not that straightforward. In China, though there is a growing understanding about the distinctions between continental Africans and Diasporan Africans (especially African Americans, African Caribbeans, and African Europeans), it is still common for all black people in China to be perceived as being from Africa. The matter is further complicated when black people identify themselves first and foremost as Americans and Europeans and not as Africans; this is sometimes the case because being identified as an American or a European is sometimes considered advantageous in certain situations in China.

Even continental Africans do not always readily identify themselves as Africans. As described in the chapter on Africans in Yiwu, my Chinese research assistant was shocked when many people from the Maghreb countries rejected his requests for interviews because they did not consider themselves Africans. It is common knowledge that many people from North African countries such as Egypt, North Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Western Sahara, who are mostly of Arab origin, have a tendency to deny their African identity in places such as Europe and Asia because they perceive there being no benefit to being identified as such. However, they will assert their African identity in situations whereby they believe it to be an advantage, for example, when negotiating trade deals and making business connections.

Another complicating issue related to the African identity is the case of white Africans. In China, very few people are aware that there are people from Africa who are white, such as those who live in South Africa. The average Chinese is hardly aware of this fact, and like the North Africans who were described earlier, many white Africans often have a tendency to conceal their African identity in China until they are faced with a situation which offers personal gain, such as a business opportunity that makes being from Africa a benefit. I once encountered a white man in a drinking bar in Nanning, Guangxi, whose accent caught my attention. (Like most linguists, I have an interest in establishing identity based on the variety of languages a person speaks.) The man swore to heaven and