中国对外援助与受援国民族建构——基于坦赞铁路的实证考察

Chinese Foreign Aid and National Identity in Recipient Countries:Evidence from the Tanzania-Zambia Railway

新中国对发展中国家的民族解放运动和国家建设提供过相当规模的国际援助,但学界较少研究这些援助项目对受援国民族建构产生的影响。通过构建一个整合时间与空间的新理论框架,作者提出中国向发展中国家提供的基础设施援助项目起到了推动受援国民族建构的历史作用。国家认同可以作为分析一国对外援助与受援国民族建构的关键切入点。以新中国具有代表性的援外项目坦赞铁路为考察对象,利用地理信息分析方法将坦赞铁路和当地民众的国家认同进行匹配和分析后可以发现:坦赞铁路建设通过促进沿线地区经济发展和塑造集体记忆两条路径有效提升了受援国民众的国家认同。其中,铁路建设对国家认同的提升作用在居住在铁路沿线地区且亲历铁路建设过程的民众中尤为显著。同时,坦赞铁路对当地民众国家认同的影响也随着时间的流逝而逐渐减弱。与此相对,殖民宗主国在殖民时期建设的铁路对提升非洲国家民众的国家认同则没有产生正面效果。这一发现拓展了对外援助影响的学理认识,进一步挖掘了中国在发展中国家民族解放进程中的贡献,对完善中国国际发展合作政策具有一定启示。

China has provided considerable foreign aid to the national liberation movements and the national construction of developing countries.Still,there is little research on the impact of these aid projects on the national construction of recipient countries.By constructing a new theoretical framework that integrates time and space,the author proposes that China's infrastructure aid to developing countries has a role in promoting the nation-building of recipient countries.National identity can be a key entry point to examine foreign aid and nation-building.The author takes the TanzaniaZambia Railway,China's most representative foreign aid project,as a case and uses the spatial analysis method to match and analyze the national identity of local people and the railway.The railway shaped national identity by promoting development and enhancing collective memory.And the effect of railway construction on national identity is most significant among the people who live in areas along the railway and have experienced railway construction.At the same time,the impact of the railway on local national identity is also gradually weakening.In contrast,the railways built by the colonial master during the colonial period did not enhance the national identity.This study expands the theoretical understanding of the impact of foreign aid,unearths China's contribution to the national liberation in developing countries,and has implications for improving China's international development cooperation policy.