Mabasa Sasa

FOR years, many of us writing from this cor­ner of the world have argued that the post- Cold War development model championed by the West was not all it was cut out to be. It is a development model characterised by economic and political prescriptions and informed by an assumption of moral superiority.

Finally, a huge scientific dent has been put into the West’s our-way-or-the-highway develop­mental theories.

A Global Attitudes Survey by the Pew Research Centre, draw­ing on the views of more than 42 000 respondents across 36 countries, shows that the world is reassessing long-held assump­tions about global leadership and viable development models.

The findings are striking. A median 46 per cent of respond­ents expressed a favourable view of China, compared with 36 per cent for the United States — the first time in two decades that Beijing has overtaken Washing­ton in this particular measure of global perception.

Confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping to do the right thing in international affairs also exceeds confidence in US President Donald Trump. In just two years, American favour­ability has fallen sharply from 58 per cent to 36 per cent, while China’s has risen from 32 per cent to 46 per cent.

These statistics tell an important story. For Africa, they point to something deeper than changing diplomatic prefer­ences. They reflect an evolving global conversation about what development should mean, how international partnerships should be structured, and what constitutes credible leadership in the 21st century.

The survey reveals that respondents across 17 middle-income countries — stretching from Latin America through Africa to the Middle East and Asia-Pacific — increasingly regard the US as an interven­tionist power, while viewing China as the more dependable partner. A median 75 per cent believe Washington interferes extensively in the affairs of other countries, compared with 45 per cent who say the same of Beijing. South Africa offers a particularly revealing illus­tration, where 72 per cent of respondents describe China as a reliable partner, compared with 46 per cent for the US. Even more tellingly, the proportion of South Africans who believe China contributes positively to global peace and stability has risen from 47 per cent in 2023 to 64 per cent today.

These findings reflect a broader sentiment across much of the Global South about sover­eignty, partnership, and mutual respect.

For decades, progressive Af­rican scholars and policymakers have argued that development cannot flourish where external partnerships are accompanied by arrogant and patronising po­litical tutelage. The experience of the Bretton Woods structural adjustment programmes re­mains etched into the conti­nent’s collective memory. Those development prescriptions left a legacy of weakened public insti­tutions, shrunken productive sec­tors, and ineffective states — all in the name of market orthodoxy and myopic neoliberalism.

China has approached the world differently. Its engagement with Africa has largely centred on infrastructure, industrial capacity, trade, energy, manufac­turing, and connectivity. Roads, railways, airports, ports, power stations, hospitals, and digital infrastructure have become the visible symbols of that engage­ment.

This is neither philanthropy nor altruism. China pursues its own national interests, just as every nation must. However, its model proceeds from a different premise — engaging other states as development partners rather than as political projects requir­ing external supervision.

Writing recently in China Daily Hong Kong, lawyer Vir­ginia Lee observed that interna­tional trust is ultimately earned through conduct rather than proclaimed through rhetoric. She argued that the Pew findings suggest a growing willingness among global publics to scruti­nise Washington more critically while extending Beijing greater confidence. This is something that deserves sincere reflection.

For much of the modern era, Western influence rested not only on economic and military strength, but also on the as­sumption that its political model represented the ideal and idyll of human progress. The Pew sur­vey results blow all of that out of the water.

China’s development narra­tive has never rested primarily on liberal individualism as the singular measure of societal progress. Instead, it places greater emphasis on collective advancement, long-term stabil­ity, poverty reduction, industrial development, and the expansion of economic opportunities.