Chinese engagement in Africa is an increasingly popular topic in Washington these days amid heightened expectations that the Biden administration is going to make the continent more of a U.S. foreign policy priority. On the legislative side, one of the key players pushing the White House to do just that is California Congresswoman Karen Bass, who is also chair of the House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Africa.
In the latest episode of The Bakari Sellers Podcast (a popular podcast that largely focuses on African-American issues), Bass was asked to comment on the Chinese presence in Africa and responded by challenging the widely-held conventional wisdom in Washington: