Africa Offers a Point of Cooperation for the US and China

The Conversation published on 22 March 2017 a commentary titled "Africa Offers a Point of Cooperation for Xi and Trump" by John J. Stremlau, University of the Witwatersrand.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump will meet in the US in April. The author suggests that this is an opportunity for the two leaders to discuss trilateral cooperation with African governments.

China, Africa, and the US: Cooperation Rather than Competition

Foreign Affairs published on 3 March 2017 an article titled "Where Beijing, Washington, and African Governments Can Work Together: From Competition to Cooperation" by Mohamed ibn Chambas, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Princeton N. Lyman, U.S. Institute of Peace, Jianhua Zhong, former Chinese Special Representative on African Affairs, and John Goodman, The Carter Center.

Given the overlapping interests of Africans, Americans, and Chinese, the authors conclude there is much to do together, especially when it comes to peace and security issues. Collaboration can offer real benefits to all three.

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Chinese and American Military Facilities in Djibouti

The New York Times published on 25 February 2017 an article titled "U.S. Wary of Its New Neighbor in Djibouti: A Chinese Naval Base" by Andrew Jacobs and Jane Perlez.

According to the article, China is constructing a 90-acre base designed to house up to several thousand troops and will include storage structures for weapons, repair facilities for ships and helicopters, and five berths for commercial ships and one for military vessels. China states the main purpose of the facility is to support its anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden and its forces assigned to UN peacekeeping operations in Africa.

US-China Cooperation on African Security

Brookings published on 1 November 2016 a commentary titled "US-China Cooperation on African Security" by Yun Sun.

She argues that both China and the United States have an interest in African peace and security. While US-China cooperation is taking place through multilateral mechanisms such as UN peacekeeping and anti-piracy efforts, there "remains great potential for more bilateral cooperation on African security issues."

China-Tanzania Naval Cooperation

The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and Tanzanian People's Defence Force recently completed their first ever month long joint naval training exercise in Tanzanian waters.  Defence Web reported on this event in an article dated 19 November 2014 titled "China and Tanzania Conclude Historic Naval Exercise."  China and Tanzania have a long history of military cooperation.