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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Coronavirus ends China's honeymoon in Africa |
| 2020-04-18 |
| [Politico] ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Africa was supposed to be China’s new stomping grounds. Instead, the novel coronavirus has spawned a growing backlash that threatens to unwind the ties Beijing has carefully cultivated over decades. The trigger for the burgeoning diplomatic crisis: Anger over the treatment of African citizens living in China and frustration at Beijing’s position on granting debt relief to fight against the outbreak. China has spent untold billions in Africa since its emergence as a global power, investing in its natural resources, underwriting massive infrastructure projects and wooing its leaders. The campaign has bought China friends and allies in multilateral institutions such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization, undermining the West’s once-reliable lock on the postwar world order while fueling its economy back home. But that decadeslong quest for influence in Africa was gravely challenged last week when a group of disgruntled African ambassadors in Beijing wrote to Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi to complain that citizens from Togo, Nigeria and Benin living in Guangzhou, southern China, were evicted from their homes and made to undergo obligatory testing for Covid-19. "In some cases, the men were pulled out of their families and quarantined in hotels alone," the note, seen by POLITICO, said. The incident, which caused widespread discontent both within Africa and among the diaspora after videos posted on social media showed people of African descent being evicted from their homes, resulting in a rare diplomatic showdown between Chinese and African officials. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #10 The US should join them or just start the trend. Well, it's a bad idea to rubbish our Treasury notes. As the chinks need cash they have to sell them, we can make sure it's at a painful discount. And then we can stop letting them buy more. It will hurt our politicians spend spend spend asses, but that's coming anyway. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-04-18 16:15 |
| #9 Coronavirus ends China's honeymoon in Africa I expect some money transfers to numbered Swiss accounts will smooth things over. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-04-18 10:57 |
| #8 It's been said that the only difference with the Chinese and the Europeans is that the Chinese did it without their military. It was all done with filthy lucre. |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-04-18 10:03 |
| #7 "China has spent untold billions in Africa since its emergence as a global power," I love how China spent billions yet Europeans are always said to have stolen billions from Africa, robbing them of their rightful place in the world. |
| Posted by: ruprecht 2020-04-18 09:57 |
| #6 ...and frustration at Beijing’s position on granting debt relief to fight against the outbreak. If these guys were smart (big if, I know) they'd band together and stiff China on all that debt. The US should join them or just start the trend. |
| Posted by: Raj 2020-04-18 08:59 |
| #5 How's the US coming along getting those rare earth minerals out of Afghanistan? |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-04-18 07:57 |
| #4 They do want to send men there to make money. They don't want any men here to make babies. |
| Posted by: Beau 2020-04-18 07:28 |
| #3 Cause Cuba did so much good there... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-04-18 05:40 |
| #2 Yea, sure. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-04-18 03:12 |
| #1 Let's just hope it ends China's 'honeymoon' in the United States. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-04-18 00:56 |