Chinese funding in Africa raises concerns
ANI
25 May 2021, 04:56 GMT+10
Beijing [China], May 24 (ANI): As China is funding and building a growing number of government and parliament buildings, police headquarters and more in Africa to cement its relations across the continent, concerns have been raised over the potential of African nations to pay back Beijing.
According to South China Morning Post (SCMP), China is funding a building to house Kenya s foreign ministry after a similar promise to the Democratic Republic of Congo in January this year. The country is funding similar buildings in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Ethiopia, the latter of which generated protest from the United States.
Beijing [China], May 24 (ANI): As China is funding and building a growing number of government and parliament buildings, police headquarters and more in Africa to cement its relations across the continent, concerns have been raised over the potential of African nations to 'pay back' Beijing.
No Need To Mandate Or Require The Vaccine Tuesday, May 18, 2021
I m very excited as the latest CDC guidance has sunk into my brain over the past few days. The CDC has played it very safe throughout COVID - of course they have to err on the side of caution because different people have different risk factors, age, health, etc. Anyway, now we have the recent guidance from the CDC that people with the vaccine can go maskless when out and about. They didn t say they have to make certain that other people around them have had the vaccine, or to make sure the people around them have masks on.
Ethiopia Must Set Right Environment for Election, US Says
Voice of America
11 May 2021, 16:05 GMT+10 WASHINGTON - The United States said it strongly supports democratization in Ethiopia as it nears a national election June 5, while noting a free, fair, and credible election can happen only with a conducive electoral environment.
The statement comes amid a humanitarian crisis and conflict in Ethiopia s northern Tigray region. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had pressed for Ethiopia s and Eritrea s commitments to withdraw Eritrean troops from Tigray immediately, in full, and in a verifiable manner. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in late March that Eritrea had agreed to withdraw its forces from Tigray. Abiy Ahmed then traveled to Eritrea and met with President Isaias Afwerki, but despite assurances from Abiy that Eritrea would withdraw U.S. officials said there is no evidence to date that such a withdrawal has occurred.
YouTube/CGTN
The top US commander in Africa recently said China s new naval pier in Djibouti could support an aircraft carrier.
China s peacekeeping deployments in Africa are seen as a potential excuse to build up its military presence on the continent.
With a population of under 1 million, Djibouti on the Horn of Africa is one of the smallest countries on the continent.
But what it lacks in size, it makes up for with its strategic location, overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a choke point between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
It is that location that has made it a hub for foreign militaries. Before 2017, the United States, France, Japan and Italy had established bases for their armed forces in the country. Then China arrived, setting up what it described as a logistics facility for resupplying Chinese vessels on peacekeeping and humanitarian missions.