China-Kenya Relations: A Study of the Standard Gauge Railway

This paper asks why China and Kenya have cooperated to develop the Kenya Standard Gauge Railway. The project is part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) created by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Two international relations theories, neoclassical realism (NCR) and social constructivism (SC) offer different answers. NCR suggests that China is trying to economically infiltrate Kenya as a power play. NCR provides the best answer to the question because the initial contract signed between the two countries benefited China more, and the general Kenyan public disapproves more than approves of China’s financial aid to Kenya. Contrary to SC, China is more concerned with rising to global power thanassisting other developing nations. I conducted my findings through analysis of the first contract signed between the two countries in 2014. I created an appendix to keep track of how specific language in the contract correlates with each theory I’m testing, concluding thatChina had more power and control in this initial agreement. I continued my research with a second appendix to find secondary literature that supports both sides of the debate of whether China is debt trapping developing nations, including Kenya. This second test reveals that there is little evidence of China trapping other countries in insurmountable debt with the intention of spreading its economic influence. My final test examines news articles about Kenyan citizens’ approval of China’s presence in Kenya. From this research, I found that much of the public disagrees with China’s influence in Kenya. Taking all of this into consideration, I conclude that other global powers must aid developing nations to deter China from furthering its expansion of influence and power through funding infrastructure projects. This research will add to the continuous political discussion about China’s expanding global influence as the Asian nation rises in power.