China's participation in the processes of decolonization and independence of Angola

• Grant number: 14/24702-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2015
• End date: February 29, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology - Anthropology of Afro-Brazilian Populations
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Dagoberto José Fonseca
• Grantee: Maxwell Martins
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Although little known in Brazil, links, trade and engagement between the various peoples of the current territories of Africa and Asia are ancient, and were fundamental in the decolonization process, independence and regaining the construction of the current national states in various countries of Africa and Asia. In this meaning, the present study aims to investigate, record and understand the involvement of Asian people in the process of decolonization of Angola, specifically the participation of the Chinese as active agents in the decolonization process and regaining of independence of Angola, evidencing the decision making process that allowed the Chinese contribution between the years 1960 and 1975. Because the African continent is guided by an ancient oral tradition and China have extensive spelling and visual records of such magnitude, we will present this work with literature source national and international about the external support present in the independence struggle of Angola, as well as a small visual survey period, collected through systematic searches on sites on the internet, from four languages (English, Mandarin, Portuguese and Spanish). Moreover, it is noteworthy that the use of China's theoretical sources imply respect and maintain their existing spellings. As much as the relationship between Asian and African date back an ancient past of trade, migration and diplomacy (Lévi-Strauss, 2000. MICHEL and Beuret, 2009), the links and the Chinese involvement in Angola due only in the 1960s of the twentieth century, and was fundamental to face the military force of the colonizers (Coissoró, 2007); served as an effective tool to combat the hegemony held by the United States and the former Soviet Socialist Republic (Zhang, 2004); represented the possibility of non-interference in internal affairs, unlike what occurred with the aid coming from the West (Coissoró, 2007); and enabled the Chinese Communist Party entry into the UN Security Council in 1971 (BELLO, 2008; Coissoró, 2007; Esteves, 2008). Note that this is not about minimize the importance and the individual efforts of internal conflict agents, on the contrary, it recognizes the role of separate individual actors and/or groups in the realization of independence. However, the efforts, and the interest of the agentes of Angolan decolonization were energized by external agents, such as the Chinese, who depended on African independence as a way to expand its political and ideological influence. (AU)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

MARTINS, Maxwell. Entre Dragones y el Antílope Sable gigante: el apoyo de china en la independencia de Angola. 2016. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Faculdade de Ciências e Letras. Araraquara Araraquara.