My interest in Chinese migration led me to two articles published in the NYTimes. In the first, Thomas Fuller tells us that cheap Chinese goods are improving livelihoods worldwide. Concerns over product safety such as those prevalent in the West are essentially moot in countries such as Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam where national purchasing power is generally low, and to own a cheap television or cooking utensil is alone a luxury.
This is true not only in Asia, but in Africa as well: cheap Chinese goods are infiltrating markets from Kenya to South Africa and Zimbabwe. While the quality of these goods is much like the price (low) and the ramifications on local industries remains somewhat dubious, there is an upside. Indeed, the influx of such goods is increasing the purchasing power of citizens all over Africa. More than that, it is connecting them to a world beyond their own. With Western and domestic products becoming increasingly too expensive, chances are high that cheap Chinese goods will continue to dominate markets across Asia and Africa - perhaps even long after citizens will be able to afford something better.
Related to this phenomenon is a piece by Jason DeParle telling us that there are an estimated 74 million 'south-south' migrants making the trek from "poorer to poor" countries. Though his article focuses primarily on the Dominican Republic, it speaks of a much wider phenomenon - one of which contemporary Sino-African relations form a significant part. Indeed, once one looks beyond China's 'oil-for-aid' diplomacy and its pursuit of resources, the China-in-Africa phenomenon is analogous to what DeParle describes: Chinese migrants seeking jobs and better wages; some coming for seasonal work, and others putting down roots.