From Los Angeles Times (link):
WHEN PRESIDENT Bush meets with Chinese President Hu Jintao on April 20, will he raise the issue of China’s role in Africa? He should. China’s rising and underreported influence in Africa is posing a direct challenge to American influence and undermining U.S. policy.
At the U.N. Security Council, China ” with Russia and Qatar ” is reportedly discouraging talk of U.S.-backed sanctions targeted against Sudanese officials responsible for the carnage in Darfur. Beijing also is providing food aid directly to the government of Zimbabwe ” notorious for doling out food to supporters while letting suspected political opponents go hungry ” instead of following Washington’s example of channeling food aid directly to Zimbabwe’s people through international and nongovernmental organizations.
See also “China-Africa trade jumps 39%” by BBC Jan. 2006; and “China and Africa: a new era of ‘south-south cooperation’” on OpenDemocracy; also “China in Africa:All Trade, With No Political Baggage” by Howard French of the New York Times in Aug. 2004; and “Admiration and Wariness Towards China” by Inter Press Service News Agency in Mar. 2006
