Abstract
China’s footprint of development on the African continent is increasing exponentially. As a result, China is Africa’s largest trading partner and a crucial source of infrastructure investment. But, in the aftermath of the coming of China, the issues of human rights violations in Africa were intensely and frequently raised, and, the China-Africa relationship faced so many criticisms from the perspective of human rights issues. Chinese involvement in Africa is economic exploitation from a Marxist viewpoint, power and influence for realists, and cooperation and mutual gain (win–win relation) for liberalist. Therefore, this study seeks to address the effects of China’s foreign policy and relation to the human rights protection and promotion of selected African states (IGAD member states). This manuscript has used secondary sources of data, including books and journals written by different international law, political science, and political economy experts and scholars. The foreign policy of states and their relationship is governed by the national interest which each state needs to objectively achieve, protect, and govern their interaction. Hence, China’s engagement with Africa has improved the human rights conditions of millions of Africans because China stresses protecting the rights of the African people through China’s development and cooperation with Africa, its aid to Africa, and Africa’s cooperation with China based on a mutual benefit is realizing human rights beyond economic growth. Yet, China should be liberal, and African states should build their domestic economic and political power to balance their gain and loss in international relations.