1/ There is a certain kind of prominent PR-oriented China-Africa commentariat that quickly began speaking of the mistreatment of Africans in China in the wake of the virus crisis there as a PR disaster for China. This is not a PR disaster. It is a political crisis.

2/ As such, it reveals the weakness inherent in a diplomatic strategy that has always privileged state to state ties, which with Africa usually mean elite political ties, mostly neglecting civil society and public opinion.

3/ The wave of African diplomatic protests shows that African states must be as attentive to public opinion and civil society as most other states, if not more so. Times of crisis like this show that co-opting elites can only buy so much sway and even less goodwill.

4/ And when push comes to shove, most African leaders will feel the need to be seen as defending their people as opposed to turning a blind eye or issuing mealy-mouthed statements in order to please a faraway power.

5/ The PR-driven commentariat is obsessed with African politics as a horse race between China and the US, or China versus the West. Africans are perfectly capable of being dissatisfied with both, and not becoming a tradable commodity, or something to be "won."

6/ And commentators in the West, meanwhile, should take care not to make the same mistake and exult in China's present difficulties. Western policies toward the continent are, in general, woeful and a mess, and feeling good about a perceived Chinese setback won't change that.