US-China tensions: how Africa can avoid being caught in a war

China’s Foreign Ministry published a 4,000-word analysis on 20 February titled US Hegemony and Its Perils. It is an indictment of alleged US foreign interference, intimidation and interference that began 200 years ago.

Subsequently, at the Communist Party National Congress in March, President Xi Jinping alleged that the US was pursuing an unprecedented global policy of stifling and suppressing Chinese development.

The US official response to the Chinese allegations has been muted. But the recent US shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon raised tensions. There are apprehensions that escalating US-Chinese tensions could threaten the independence of African and other non-aligned nations.

This essay seeks to contribute to the overdue debate among Africans about how to avoid engaging in the US-China global rivalry while maintaining a productive partnership with both countries. It draws on my many years of teaching and research on Africa’s changing international relations.

I hope it will encourage other scholars and policy makers across Africa to assess the hegemony statement in the light of their own interests and values. Finally, this essay aims to stimulate debate about what each theme realistically means for the continent of Africa.

Subjects in the statement are:

• Political hegemony – (US) throwing your weight around
• military occupation – coercive use of force
• Economic Hegemony – Looting and Exploitation
• Technological Hegemony – Monopoly and Suppression
• Cultural Hegemony – Spreading false narratives.

Although the Chinese rhetoric is harsh, the initiatives and dialogue between China and the US in Africa under each heading reflect my general belief that their competition in Africa has been and can be both peaceful and productive.

political hegemony

China’s indictment ranges from American efforts at hemisphere dominance in the early 19th century to inciting the “Color Revolution” – nonviolent protests that overthrew autocratic regimes in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, three post-Soviet republics.

But China’s view of the US is dominated by the volatility of US domestic politics. Domestic concerns can alter foreign policy, a leader’s ideology, and political and historical circumstances.

Domestically, China has also gone through many political upheavals since the civil war that brought the Communist Party to power in 1949. If China underestimates US domestic volatility, US analysts may exaggerate the global impact of Chinese internal pressures. During my election work for the Carter Center in Africa from 2006-2015, I was impressed by the Chinese and American delegates who were able to find common ground and learn from each other.

Read also: LGBTQ+ rights: African Union’s watchdog goes back on its own word

african leaders

At the high level of diplomacy, China and the US have used the summit with African leaders to set broad guidelines for cooperation in trade and investment, climate, public health, infrastructure construction and other areas. Dealing with the two major powers should help African leaders determine areas of comparative advantage for them. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation is distinguished by US initiatives, the most recent being the US-Africa Partnership in Promoting Peace, Security and Democratic Governance. Neither major power appears to shelve hegemony projections, as African leaders test their abilities to be productively non-aligned.

These high-level channels for both superpowers could yield more if the African Regional Economic Communities and the African Union made more concerted efforts to develop complementary and cumulative strategies to address pressing African priorities. An example is the expansion of the American African Development and Opportunity Act to ensure favorable access to American markets. Managing debt obligations for China’s significant “Belt and Road” investments in African infrastructure is another.

military and economic hegemony

The differences between what Africa faced during the US-Soviet Cold War and today’s US-China rivalry are most pronounced in the areas of military and economic hegemony.

Neither China nor the US appears prepared to use Africa to test political military resolve, as the US and Soviets did when they fought proxy wars in Angola during the 1970s, for example For.

African national and multilateral bodies should lobby China and the US to support African-led peacekeeping missions within African countries.

Globally, the economic interdependence between China and the United States will be critical to the continued growth and prosperity of both countries. President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are committed to reviving their domestic economies. They both want more equality, less corruption and sustainable development. It does not appear that neither want nor want to incite conflicts in Africa.

Read also: Water has long been used as a strategic weapon in warfare.

African governments consider it appropriate to seek support from both China and the US for regional integration and cooperation, such as the African Continental Free Trade Area. Greater Chinese and US economic engagement could also become a confidence-building measure between China and the US in response to African collective appeals. This rarely happened during the Cold War. Back then, America was aligned with the European colonial powers and the apartheid regime in South Africa. The Soviets supported the liberation forces. Today such polarization does not exist.

The differences between what Africa faced during the US-Soviet Cold War and today’s US-China rivalry are most pronounced in the areas of military and economic hegemony.

Neither China nor the US appears prepared to use Africa to test political military resolve, as the US and Soviets did when they fought proxy wars in Angola during the 1970s, for example For.

african national

African national and multilateral bodies should lobby China and the US to support African-led peacekeeping missions within African countries.

Globally, the economic interdependence between China and the United States will be critical to the continued growth and prosperity of both countries. President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are committed to reviving their domestic economies. They both want more equality, less corruption and sustainable development. It does not appear that neither want nor want to incite conflicts in Africa.

Read also: Non Sikelelo Zwedala: An unsung hero of the struggle for HIV drugs

African governments attempt to garner support from both China and the US for regional integration and cooperation, such as the African Continental Free Trade Area. Greater Chinese and US economic engagement could also become a confidence-building measure between China and the US in response to African collective appeals. This rarely happened during the Cold War. Back then, America was aligned with the European colonial powers and the apartheid regime in South Africa. The Soviets supported the liberation forces. Today such polarization does not exist.

technological dominance

The benefits and risks of new technologies are well known. Communications, data retrieval and archive, and artificial intelligence bring both promise and risk that Africa must navigate carefully. As advances in artificial intelligence continue to accelerate, this is becoming even more important. Neither China nor the US need hegemony to provide the technologies that drive Africa’s development.

More issues of contention need to be resolved with the help of scientists and scholars from China, America and Africa. Huawei 5G availability is a particularly contentious issue. Perhaps interested scientists and members of the African Research University Alliance could work with their Chinese and American counterparts to establish guidelines and mediation capacity.

Cultural Hegemony – African

American crimes against Africans began in 1619 with the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Its sediment remains to this day.

But? The African diaspora has become a major political constituency of the Democratic Party. This is a rapidly growing demographic. In music, sports, the arts, these Americans are invaluable carriers of soft power in Africa.

China does not have the same relations with Africa. But, it has recently become more culturally active across the continent, as evidenced in its network of Confucius Institutes. China has also become the largest donor of foreign scholarships, allowing future African leaders to study in China. The graduates enrich African universities and represent potential channels to explore three-way options for fruitful collaboration in their areas of applied research, interacting with graduates of American institutions of higher learning.

Read also: Extinct but not extinct – thylacines still fascinate us

To hope

This essay reflects my belief in the value and potential for greater African agency in response to rising tensions between China and the US. I have used the indictment of China’s alleged US hegemony to allay fears of Africa becoming a pawn in another Cold War. There is no evidence that I have seen that this will happen.

Article by: John J. Stremlau, Honorary Professor of International Relations, University of the Witwatersrand

This article is republished from Conversation Under Creative Commons Licence. read the original article,

Click here to read more articles from the conversation.