To help with Africa’s development tests sense of responsibility, vision
By Zhong
Sheng
How to
offer tangible assistance for Africa is an important topic of international
concern. It shall be a shared responsibility and vision for members of the
international society to play their due roles in constructive global
cooperation that propels the development of African countries.
However,
what U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during his recent trip to Africa
failed to showcase such responsibility and vision.
Preaching
that “countries should be wary of authoritarian regimes with empty
promises”, the U.S. Secretary of State bragged that the U.S. can
provide better offers for Africa than any other country. He said that only the
economic partnership with the U.S. can help Africa achieve “true liberation”.
However,
Pompeo’s remarks were slammed by local media immediately after he capped his
tour. A South African newspaper said in an article titled Don’t Fall for U.S.
Propaganda that the trip doesn’t appear to have produced anything
tangible so far, other than anti-Chinese and pro-U.S. rhetoric.
A report
by American media also said that the “true liberation”
rhetoric was exaggerated, citing an Ethiopian critic.
Pompeo’s
trip to Africa marked the first one paid by a U.S. Secretary of State in the
recent two years. Though he made high-profile remarks, his country was not
doing anything to support them. When West Africa is seeing deteriorating situation
of anti-terrorism, the White House is conceiving large-scale military withdrawal,
and the U.S. announced visa restriction for nearly a quarter of African
population just ahead of Pompeo’s trip to Africa.
The
U.S., failing to offer development plans for Africa, was sermonizing the
continent with the doctrines that have been used for years and proved outdated.
Such practice is believed by the international media to have released a chaotic
signal.
American
media said bluntly that Pompeo’s trip announced no major agreement or new
initiative, while African scholars pointed out that the U.S. will only lose the
game by comparing itself with other countries, and alienate the African
national leaders who don’t want to be forced to pick sides. U.S. senior officials
shall focus on genuine development plans for Africa if they want to be
accepted.
It’s
obvious to all that U.S.-Africa cooperation has never been prospering over the
years. However, the U.S. attributed such failure to Africa’s cooperation with
other countries, which is totally ridiculous, as African countries have always
said that they remain open to cooperation with any country.
The
ineffective cooperation between the U.S. and Africa was not caused by external
factors, but the neglecting of the U.S. itself. When a new Africa strategy was
raised by the White House in 2018, African scholars pointed out that the
strategy barely cared about the focal problems facing Africa, such as hunger,
unemployment, surging population and climate change.
Just as
many African observers believe, some American politicians never cared about the
development of Africa, or take African countries as respectable and equal
partners. As a result, it’s hard for the African people to believe the
“beautiful lies” made by these politicians.
Perhaps
what the U.S. Secretary of State experienced in Africa might have further
embarrassed him. He was received at the Bole International Airport of Addis
Ababa expanded in part by Chinese funds, and his entourage passed through the
capital where Beijing has built highways, said an article by American media,
adding that the Secretary of State met the chairman of the African Union at its
towering headquarters built and paid for by China.
“As
things stand, China is already winning the hearts and the minds of Africans.
The West will have to either change tact or forever play catch up,” said
Ethiopian scholar Mehari Taddele Maru. The U.S. has always taken Africa as a
battlefield for major-power games, rather than making sustained efforts to
develop its economic relations with the continent.
“The
U.S. may be the world’s biggest economy characterized by its huge gross
domestic product and a strong currency, but its international market dominance
should not give it unrestricted liberty to insult African heads of state by
telling them who their friends should be.” What African media said conveys the
common aspiration of the African people.
To help
Africa with concrete actions tests a country’s sense of responsibility and
vision. Real friendship is achieved through weal and woe, rather than glossing.
The African people know clearly who their real friends are.
(Zhong
Sheng is a pen name often used by People’s Daily to express its views on
foreign policy.)
To help with Africa’s development tests sense of responsibility, vision
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