Extant literature has explored the effects of foreign aid on armed conflicts and state repression, but not
on public demonstrations. This article compares distribution patterns of Chinese and World Bank-funded
projects and public demonstrations in Cameroon, receiving predominantly Chinese official finance, and
Uganda, receiving predominantly traditional, Western aid. Distributive patterns suggest negative and positive
associations between Chinese and traditional official finance on the one hand and public demonstrations
on the other. However, with respect to anti-project demonstrations specifically, I find through fieldwork
interviews in Cameroon that Chinese-funded projects are more prone to anti-project demonstrations
owing to less stringent risk management standards