The United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a congressionally-mandated commission responsible for monitoring and investigating national security and trade issues between the United States and China, released a new report on Chinese engagement in Africa.
The report covers a wide range of topics from China’s expanding political influence to its growing media influence on the continent as well as Beijing’s support for anti-democratic norms.
Key Highlights From the USCC Report on China-Africa Relations and Implications for the United States
- AUTHORITARIANISM: “China is actively supporting authoritarian and illiberal regimes, while providing them with new tools of repression, such as digitally enabled surveillance, eroding democracy and the values of open and transparent governance. To achieve its goals, Beijing has shown a willingness to intervene in African domestic politics to protect favored elites, brazenly violating its stated policies to not interfere in other countries’ domestic affairs.”
- GLOBAL IMPACT: “Africa is fast becoming a battleground for competing ideologies and models of domestic and international governance. The more African states accept China’s model of governance and abandon liberal norms and multiparty democracy, the easier it will be for Beijing to enlist African support for other geopolitical objectives. This trend is not only injurious to U.S. interests on the continent but will also have adverse implications for the United States’ position globally.”
