Chinese scholar: Western interference a key barrier to Africa's development

In a recent interview with China Daily, Liu Hongwu, dean of the Institute of African Studies (College of African Area and Country Studies) at Zhejiang Normal University, noted that Western nations continue to exert influence over African nations under the pretext of human rights, a pretext that has been reduced to a tool for preserving Western privileges and hegemony.

"The West has externally imposed political systems upon Africa, leaving it in a long-lasting weak and chaotic state, which makes it easier for the West to divide and manipulate the continent at will," Liu said. "All of these combined constitute the fundamental institutional barriers to the development of the African people."