Does Egypt count as Africa? (stupid I know, but some classify it as the mid-east) And do the later Mongols count as Chinese? (Kublai Khan and his descendants)? If so, an enclave could survive in Egypt indefinitely, a successful Mongol Empire could conquer a chunk of Africa and manage to hold onto it, or the Mongols could retreat from the mid-east into Africa and create a new khanate.
As far as straight-up China is concerned, I believe that China was in contact with Africa (especially during Kublai's reign, but even prior to then) so a particularly daring Emperor thinking ahead of his time may be able to snag a nice colonial empire in Africa.
Wow, that'd probably butterfly the hell out of OTL Chinese civil war! Does Chang-Kai have support in the colonies?
Nationalist China in Africa anyone?
Thanks for the interesting discussion prompt!