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Clinton visit won't affect China-Africa relations

Xinhua, August 6, 2012

• U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Africa tour will not affect China-Africa relations, a South African expert told Xinhua.

  Clinton's visit to South Africa is part of an 11-day African tour covering Senegal, South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi and South Africa, according to a statement by the U.S. State Department.

  The United States seeks to reaffirm strategies of its Africa policy during the visit, South African political and international relations expert Professor Sabelo Ndlovu Gatsheni said Sunday.

  South Africa, like other African countries, would like to get the best out of its relations with both the United States and China, Gatsheni said.

  "If there is aid coming from the East, they can't reject it because Africa is trying to maximize whatever the continent can get from whatever direction," said Gatsheni, who is also a lecturer at the University of South Africa.

  However, China has better chance in Africa than the United States, said Gatsheni.

  "The advantage of China is that its aid to Africa has no strings attached and most African countries tend to prefer Chinese aid because it does not come with conditions on human rights, democracy as well attempting to influence the culture of the country like the West," he said.

  China is an industrializing country and a fast emerging global power that needs raw materials from Africa, but it is also investing in infrastructural development in Africa to benefit Africans, he said.

  Gatsheni believes that Washington has a clear intention to counter China's influence on the African continent.

  "There is indeed a drive to counter China's influence in Africa. Clinton is on record warning African states to be aware of Chinese imperialism but at the same time she seems to be championing U.S. imperialism in Africa."

  Gatsheni noted that China and the United States are competing to create closer ties with African states.

  "The East is rising, not only China but others, and they are now a threat to the old dominance of the West. It seems the United States does not want to let China occupy its previous place of dominance on the African continent," he said.

  The professor said Washington could be worried by the recent Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in Beijing, where about 50 African countries pledged to develop a new strategic partnership with China.

  "The United States is worried by China's influence on Africa and is using soft power in the name of human rights and democracy to persuade African countries to be on its side. It's still not clear if the United States will succeed on this one," Gatsheni said.

  "What is clear is that African states want to develop and China is giving the aid which develops the infrastructure and this is what Africa wants," he added.

  The expert also noted that China's presence in Africa has changed the traditional donor-receiver relationship where the donor used to dictate everything.

  "China says I will get what I want and you will also get a share, and I think Africa will go with China rather than the old imperialist powers," Gatsheni said. 

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