Building trust in Africa

China and the US can cooperate to help African countries create a secure and stable environment for development

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finished a nine-nation visit to sub-Saharan Africa in early August. Apart from pursuing the Obama administration's new strategy toward sub-Saharan Africa, which was unveiled in the middle of June, Clinton's visit has also been widely interpreted as an attempt to counter China's influence in Africa.

In a speech in Senegal, the first stop on her tour, Clinton warned African leaders about cooperating with countries that seek to exploit the continent's resources and sought to sell the United States' approach to Africa by claiming it "adds value rather than extracts it". Although she didn't name China, her implication is that China has been extracting Africa's wealth for itself.