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Relations between China and the United States of America have been a central part of each country's foreign relations since the turn of the 20th century. For China, relations with the US rank alongside those with Japan and Russia as intense and often problematic, but never unimportant. For the US, China has long been an area of intense emotional involvement, elusive commercial opportunity, and great strategic importance. Three broad areas stand out as central to the relationship: the strategic i…

China's first direct contacts with Africa date back to the Ming dynasty voyages of the Muslim eunuch Zheng He, who led three large maritime expeditions to the east coast of Africa in 1417, 1421, and 1431. Following the return of the last expedition, the Ming dynasty adopted a more introspective policy, and it would not be until 1956 that regular, modern diplomatic relations with independent African nations were established. Africa is a region of moderately high importance in China's modern foreign relations. Although China and Africa are geographically remote, Si…