China’s official newspaper, the state-run Global Times, mocked the Biden administration on Monday for trying to compete with China for Africans’ affection despite investing a tiny fraction of China’s total budget on the continent.
Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and other government officials were roundly rebuked by Chinese propagandists for repeating pledges rather than providing “real money.”
A university lecturer named Song Wei, who teaches at Beijing’s Foreign Studies, was quoted in the editorial, and he claimed that the United States is using its democratic ally Ghana as a “point of entry” into Africa so that it can play the “value card.”
There was criticism of how Western media have covered China’s reduced funding for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Africa. The editorial claims ignoring the initiative’s “real value” is a mistake. BRI’s “real purpose” is that African nations are in too much debt to China to think about switching political allegiances. BRI means in real terms.
Chinese aid in Africa’s infrastructure projects has laid the economic basis for the continent’s continued development. Even though certain Western media outlets overstate it, China is still a significant backer of infrastructure projects throughout Africa as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) projected that American and European businesspeople still concerned about corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and still prevalent poverty would respond coolly to the Biden administration’s demand for billions of dollars in private investment.
The WSJ predicted that China would win the struggle for influence in Africa. China’s approach, which can be defined as cold-blooded but reasonable, is more well-liked in Africa than giving away assistance money or coaxing private firms into taking financial risks because of its focus on China’s self-interest.
It is estimated that between 2007 and 2020, China will have financed African projects to the tune of $120 billion more than the United States’ 14 billion dollars.
