Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) was to arrive in Africa on a four-nation visit yesterday seeking deeper military and economic ties while his rival in a bitter trade war, the Trump administration, shows little interest in the world’s second most populous continent.
This is Xi’s first trip abroad since he was appointed to a second term in March with term limits removed, allowing him to rule for as long as he wants, which rang familiar to some of Africa’s long-entrenched leaders.
China is already Africa’s largest trading partner and it opened its first military base on the continent last year in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, which this month launched a China-backed free trade zone it calls the largest in Africa.
Photo: Reuters
After surpassing the US in arms sales to Africa in the past few years, China this month hosted dozens of African military officials for the first China-Africa defense forum.
Xi is stopping in Senegal and then Rwanda ahead of his participation in a summit of the so-called “BRICS” emerging economies in South Africa that starts on Wednesday.
The summit comes amid the US’ trade war with China and tough trade negotiations with other key economic partners.
Last month, the foreign ministers of BRICS members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa criticized what they called a “new wave of protectionism,” saying that US measures undermine global trade and economic growth.
Xi’s Africa visit also highlights China’s sweeping Belt and Road Initiative that envisages linking Beijing to Africa, Europe and other parts of Asia via a network of ports, railways, power plants and economic zones.
While such high-profile projects bring badly needed infrastructure and generate economic growth, US officials and others have warned that African nations are indebting themselves to China.
China’s government, banks and contractors from 2000 to 2015 loaned more than US$94 billion to African governments and state-owned companies, the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University said.
“Public debt in the median sub-Saharan African country rose from 34 percent of GDP in 2013 to an estimated 53 percent last year,” a report released in January by Chen Wenjie and Roger Nord of the IMF said.
From oil in nations such as Nigeria and Angola to rare minerals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa’s natural resources are a major draw for China’s economy, the world’s second-largest behind the US.
However, China’s voracious appetite for resources such as timber and ivory has taken its toll on Africa’s environment, often with the help of corrupt local officials.
On his first visit to a West African country, Xi is to meet with Senegalese President Macky Sall.
Senegal had economic growth of 7.2 percent last year, the IMF said, adding that the nation’s largest trading partner is the EU, notably France.
The stop highlights China’s interest both in Francophone Africa and in Atlantic Ocean ports, while Senegal positions itself as a gateway to the region.
Already, a Chinese-backed industrial park has appeared outside the capital, Dakar, while rail and road links are being improved as part of an ambitious plan to reach the other end of the continent in Djibouti.
Xi then moves on to Rwanda, becoming the first Chinese president to visit the landlocked East African country, whose economy grew by 6.1 percent last year. He is to meet with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and visit a memorial for Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, which killed more than 800,000 people.
The Chinese leader is then to make his third state visit to South Africa for the BRICS summit.
South Africa’s economy, one of Africa’s largest, grew just 1.3 percent last year amid a drop in investor confidence, because of a corruption scandal around former South African president Jacob Zuma, who resigned in February.
Finally, Xi is to stop in the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius, whose economy grew by 3.9 percent last year.
China’s economic push is to continue in September with the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which brings together dozens of heads of state.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS