'China has conquered Kenya': Inside Beijing's new strategy to win African hearts and minds

Although StarTimes — a privately owned, Beijing-based media and telecommunications firm — is virtually unknown in the West, it has been sweeping across Africa since 2002, overhauling the continent’s broadcast infrastructure and beaming Chinese content into millions of homes. It has subsidiaries in 30 African countries, including such war-torn states as the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic. But there’s a catch. StarTimes has substantial backing from the Chinese state — and an explicit political mandate. Beijing has invested billions of dollars into “soft power” campaigns aimed at convincing the world that China is a cultural and political success story. –LA Times/