It was China that dominated the debates, during the confirmation hearings by the Senate – the second part of which took place Thursday, February 4 – of Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who is to represent the diplomacy of the Biden administration at the Nations united.
The 68-year-old African-American, a specialist in humanitarian issues and Africa, insisted that her main challenge would be to fight the Chinese advances in New York. “I have a long experience of the harmful influence of China, their strategy of debt and trap, in Africa and elsewhere, she said during her first Senate hearing on January 28. China is a strategic adversary, which poses challenges to our security, prosperity and values. China widely violates human rights, has authoritarian ambitions that go against our democratic values. “
“The Biden administration should be far more suspicious of China than the Obama administration was, even though the diplomatic staff are almost the same”, warns Richard Gowan, UN director of the International Crisis Group. The analyst expects harsh offensives from Washington on the repression against the Uighurs, or in the defense of democracy in Burma. “We have already seen a slight change this week, he continues. China would never have joined a joint Security Council statement denouncing the junta coup during the Trump administration. She has shown that she doesn’t want to damage her brand new relationship with Team Biden. “ The UN Security Council on Thursday expressed its “Deep concern” on the situation in Burma.
Breaking through sterile dead ends
Another ground on which Washington will pursue Beijing: the African continent. A diplomat for thirty-five years, having worked in Rwanda, and former Ambassador to Liberia, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 2013 to 2017, Linda Thomas-Greenfield closely monitored the Chinese investment strategy there. For her, the record is dull: colossal debts of African countries to China, people’s unease with Chinese workers who do not integrate and, above all, the infrastructure built is of poor quality.
“It didn’t work for the Africans, and it didn’t go the way the Chinese expected., she asserted. They failed because Africans will instead prefer, when possible, to work with the United States. But for now, unfortunately, they don’t always have a choice. We must take advantage of this, and be more proactive in our engagement on the African continent. “
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