Trump Needs To Be A Counterweight To China In Africa

[Techno-Druid]

http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/13/tr...ina-in-africa/

Dear President-elect Trump,

I know there is a lot on your plate over the next couple months, but I wanted to bring your attention to a pressing issue that might not make it to the top of your radar during your transition: Africa. Some would argue that Africa shouldn’t be at the top of your list when it comes to priorities, but I beg to differ. If you are committed to taking on China and averting their ability to “eat our lunch,” then we should be concerned with their dominance in Africa and the impact they may have on our future hegemonic power.

During the month of November, I had the great privilege of visiting a couple of countries in Southern Africa. That trip opened my eyes to the impact that China is having on the continent. Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa has skyrocketed from $7 billion in 2008 to $26 billion in 2013, according to figures cited by the Wharton Africa Business Forum. But to be honest, those numbers don’t tell the entire story. I found a dominance of Chinese expats, Chinese-run businesses, and sky-scraping Chinese hotels littering the skyline of every major city I visited.

Africa presents a huge business opportunity to China’s ballooning populations. Not only does the continent provide an abundance of resources necessary for the Chinese economy to grow, but they also provide China with something else stronger than money: global influence. Investing in Africa—a continent ravished by colonialism, civil war, and poverty—gives China the ability to gain new allies and assert power on a continent that has all but been neglected by the developed world.

When asked about PEPFAR, you stated, “Yes, I believe so strongly in that, and we’re going to the lead the way.” And now I am asking for you not to waver in your commitment. If PEPFAR is eliminated the people of Africa will suffer beyond belief. And beyond that, we will hand over our influence in Africa to the Chinese, a move that we as a nation might never recover from.

If we want to compete with China, then we must take them on in every way possible. That means we must compete with them by increasing our aid and foreign direct investment in Africa. By bolstering our influence in Africa, we would counterbalance much of the influence currently being peddled by the Chinese.

Mr. Trump, China is hurting our workers, our jobs, and our economic future. As you work to reign them in, I urge you to see our work in Africa as part of that strategy. By increasing aid to Africa, we can curtail the Chinese, significantly benefit the health of the global community, and fulfill our ethical obligation to help those in need in the international community.

I've been following Chinese development in Africa for sometime and despite of what a few people on this forum would think, China has no interest in administrating or ruling the continent in any way. I think a good parallel to what China is doing in Africa is what America did to Japan and Korea during the Cold War. China sees economic opportunity in Africa and sees the opportunity to gain closer political and economic ties through economic and even cultural influence.

This is something the US needs, especially with possible military conflicts in the future with China and Russia. Despite having close ties to nearly all of the Western(ized) World (Western/Southern Europe, Latin America, the Pacific, Japan and Korea) it never hurts to have more political allies.

[Vyxn]

http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/13/tr...ina-in-africa/



I've been following Chinese development in Africa for sometime and despite of what a few people on this forum would think, China has no interest in administrating or ruling the continent in any way. I think a good parallel to what China is doing in Africa is what America did to Japan and Korea during the Cold War. China sees economic opportunity in Africa and sees the opportunity to gain closer political and economic ties through economic and even cultural influence.

This is something the US needs, especially with possible military conflicts in the future with China and Russia. Despite having close ties to nearly all of the Western(ized) World (Western/Southern Europe, Latin America, the Pacific, Japan and Korea) it never hurts to have more political allies.

sounds like modern day colonialism a larger more powerful country going into smaller weaker countries to strip them of its resources with no or very little benefits of the citizens of the smaller country

[Techno-Druid]

sounds like modern day colonialism a larger more powerful country going into smaller weaker countries to strip them of its resources with no or very little benefits of the citizens of the smaller country

There are plenty of benefits to the Africans, the major contributions being transportation (China is constructing a railway that will connect Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and most of East Africa), technology (Chinese companies are migrating to Africa and selling cellphones, vehicles and TVs) and culture (as previously mentioned, China is selling a large amount of TVs in Africa and they've even begun to dub Chinese TV in Swahili, religions such as Buddhism and Confucianism and Chinese literature are also being slowly spread throughout the continent).

Not to mention they're investing billions into farming and construction in Southern Africa.

[Stacyrect]

sounds like modern day colonialism a larger more powerful country going into smaller weaker countries to strip them of its resources with no or very little benefits of the citizens of the smaller country

Which is exactly what has happened historically to Africa every fucking time they have something of worth

[Adam Jensen]

Why does China or the US need to "rule" Africa? Africa is not ours to rule.

[Deleted]

People should ready learn some geography and stop acting like Africa is that one single country where black lives

That kind of article is really confusing to read when you only speak about "africa" without being specific regarding locations and nature of the investments.

[Daelak]

People should ready learn some geography and stop acting like Africa is that one single country where black lives

That kind of article is really confusing to read when you only speak about "africa" without being specific regarding locations and nature of the investments.

It is designed to be confusing and perpetuate the white superiority myth that Africa, a continent large enough to hold the US and China, is a failed 'state'.

[Techno-Druid]

Why does China or the US need to "rule" Africa? Africa is not ours to rule.

It's not about trying to rule Africa, the US has economically and culturally influenced a plethora of countries, but we've yet to ever rule them.

People should ready learn some geography and stop acting like Africa is that one single country where black lives

That kind of article is really confusing to read when you only speak about "africa" without being specific regarding locations and nature of the investments.

The investment is mainly centered around Eastern and Southern Africa.