TV drama casts Chinese as the good guys of Africa

The series is part of Beijing’s efforts to project itself as a benevolent force after its reputation took a knock during the pandemic.

Wu Jing in Wolf Warrior 2, above. In 2017, Wolf Warrior 2, the second in a jingoistic action TV franchise, featured a Chinese version of Rambo single-handedly routing pirates off the continent’s coast. It inspired the nickname ‘wolf warriors’ for a new diplomatic generation. Picture: supplied

A glossy medical drama set in an African country is the newest production in a flourishing “Chinese saviour” genre designed to counter Beijing’s reputation as a predator on the continent.

Welcome to Milele Village stars some of China’s biggest TV names as doctors and nurses who help grateful locals in the African bush in a production that is as hackneyed as anything ever made by Hollywood.

Milele means “forever” in Swahili and the show, shot in Tanzania, represents the “everlasting friendship between China and Africa”, according to publicity material.

Spliced between the struggles of the foreign humanitarians who “use their superb medical skills to alleviate the suffering of African people” are shots of Mount Kilimanjaro, dancing villagers and the savannahs of the Serengeti teeming with wildlife.

Tanzania’s tourism minister will be delighted with a boost to a sector that makes a key contribution to the country’s GDP.

The series is part of Beijing’s soft-power efforts to project itself as a great, benevolent force after its reputation took a knock during the pandemic.

Having firm allies in Africa is increasingly important for Beijing to weather pressure from America and the West.

Yet Tanzania and other partners, including Kenya and Zambia, have also amassed huge debts from China’s development loans, in what critics have described as a form of “debt-trap diplomacy” that gives Beijing leverage and the option of seizing infrastructure and resources.

This year marks a decade since President Xi Jinping announced his Belt and Road Initiative to revive the ancient Silk Road network of trade routes linking China with Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

The milestone has brought fresh scrutiny of the progress and pitfalls of his ambition, so the feel-good Welcome to Milele Village is well timed.

The “Chinese saviour” formula – helpless Africa in need of rescuing from itself and western baddies by a competent Beijing – is well honed and increasingly popular with Chinese audiences.

Zhang Zhisheng, Beijing’s consul-general in Zanzibar, said its release had drawn “wild attention”, some 60 years after China first dispatched medical teams overseas.

Viewers in Africa will get to see the show after funding was agreed between the China Media Group and African state broadcasters to dub a number of productions in local languages.

Ebola Fighters, a 24-part drama about Chinese doctors tackling the deadly virus in west Africa, was released in 2021.

Before that, in 2017, Wolf Warrior 2, the second in a jingoistic action franchise, featured a Chinese version of Rambo single-handedly routing pirates off the continent’s coast.

It became China’s top box-office earner and inspired the nickname “wolf warriors” for a new diplomatic generation executing Mr Xi’s assertive foreign policy approach.

The Times