Posted on 05/03/2020 6:15:00 PM PDT by RomanSoldier19
he United States should meet the People’s Republic of China’s growing influence in Africa by scaling an existing comparative advantage that will demonstrably promote well-being, prosperity, and goodwill: strategic health diplomacy.
by Mark P. Lagon Rachel Sadoff AFRICA IS rising and shaking up the global balance of power. The continent’s fifty-four countries are growing in wealth and population faster than ever before, prompting a race among global superpowers to invest, build goodwill, and in some cases, acquire strategic assets.
In this domain, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is making unparalleled and unorthodox inroads into the continent. Since 2003, the country has deployed a thirty-fold increase in investments in Africa and begun to distribute almost eight times as much annual development financing. In the PRC’s pursuit of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)—an estimated $6 trillion global infrastructure project engaging seventy countries that account for 30 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP)—new partnerships are being established that pave the way for long-term influence on the continent.
While there is considerable demand for infrastructure investment in Africa, the PRC’s investment practices are not exactly selfless. In order to receive BRI loans, governments are expected to offer collateral in the form of strategic assets such as oil, airports, or land rights. National governments are then free to disburse the BRI funds practically without oversight. If the funds are squandered, countries find themselves in what has been referred to as a “carefully laid debt trap.” In May 2019, for his part, U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo went so far as to pointedly characterize the BRI as “corrupt infrastructure deals in exchange for political influence.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalinterest.org ...
Europeans have a bad conscience about colonizing Africa. China has no qualms about it.
My general thought is maybe we should let China get deeply entrenched in Africa. It might be their downfall.
The Dark Continent tends to eat any who engage with it
Let them have Africa. White ex-colonial powers are not welcome there. Or whites in general. The Chinese will have no qualms about enforcing order in any territories they rule.
I think Africa would break China.
OTOH...
China is WAY overextended. Can they get the benefits of their deals?
I’m not so sure.
China, I think, might be sufficiently ruthless to fix Africa.
They might wind up exterminating most of the native African population in the process, though.
Problem is that supposedly the continent has more natural resources (coal, oil, NG, rare-earth minerals, everything) than everyplace else on earth combined...so you can’t just hand that over without some kind of fight.
A lot of Chinese probably wouldn’t survive.
I think a lot Africa types might give the Chinese some grief, especially with US covertly supporting.
Cool. You go fight for it. Better yet, send your kids to go fight for it.
For all the poverty pimps talking about how “wacist” Americans or Europeans are, the communist red chinese make the Ku Klux Klan look like the ACLU.
Chinese arrogance and racism will sink them in Africa. Don’t think the Africans have not noticed the treatment of fellow Africans in China during the epidemic.
Africa is where empires go to die.
I worked with mark p lagoons father at Raytheon in the early 80s.
I personally spent 5 years working and traveling all over the Congo on commercial and private aircraft. Some flights were almost half full of Chinese. They all were engaged in the different mines scattered throughout the Congo and many were engineers working on rebuilding the roads. From talking with some of the Chinese, their intent was to take over all mining in Africa because it was inexpensive. That was 2007 through 2012. I am sure they have it all tied up by now.
The Yellow Man’s Burden.
Watch empire of dust and Google ....its all so tiresome....it shows China trying to get things going in africa
Indeed. If China thinks they can improve Africa and have them as loyal allies - let them try!
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