Building the great wall abroad: China's security engagement in Africa

While China's economic influence in Africa has been widely studied, its securityrelated activities have received less scrutiny. This chapter positions China's security initiatives as a critical but underexplored dimension of its African policy. This chapter explores China's growing security engagement in Africa, framing it as an extension of its domestic principles of stability and strategic defense, symbolized metaphorically by the "Great Wall. " It investigates how China's security policies in Africa align with its broader geopolitical and economic objectives. Through an analysis of military cooperation, peacekeeping missions, arms trade, and the establishment of overseas military bases, the chapter evaluates the implications of China's security engagement for Africa's governance, development, and global security dynamics. In doing so, the metaphor of the "Great Wall" is employed to symbolize China's efforts to project stability, safeguard its interests, and expand its strategic influence beyond its borders.