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Trump's 'shithole' remarks spur international anger | USA News |
Trump's Reported 'Shithole' Slur Will Nudge African Nations Closer To China
As Trump Insults African Countries, China Actively Embraces Them
Macron shares African outrage on Trump's 'shithole countries
Trump's Insults Will Nudge African Nations Closer To China
January 16, 201810:02 AM ET
Chinese construction workers carry reinforcing rods on a building site in Algiers, Algeria.
Last week President Trump reportedly singled out Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as "shithole countries" whose people were not the kind of immigrants the United States wanted. At the time, I happened to be in Serekunda, Gambia's largest urban area, as Trump's slur shocked people across Africa. The anger was palpable.
Trump denied saying it, but the reports led to a cascade of swift condemnation, including a United Nations spokesman describing the president's comments as "racist." The African Union, an organization of 55 nations, expressed "outrage" and said it "strongly believes that there is a huge misunderstanding of the African continent and its people by the current [U.S.] administration."
But as the fallout continues, there is something missing from the conversation: Trump's alleged vulgar insult comes at a time of strategic shift in Africa — toward China. In the past few weeks I have been on the ground in West Africa, and everywhere I have gone I have seen the presence of China.
As America has become an increasingly unwelcoming place for young Africans, they look elsewhere in search of a better life. Last week I visited the Confucius Institute in Dakar, a huge building located on the grounds of Senegal's University of Dakar. I spent time with students from across Africa coming to learn Mandarin as a way to land a dream job in China or take a slice from the growing Chinese presence in every corner of the continent.
Senegalese can study Mandarin at the Confucius Institute in Dakar, at Senegal's University of Dakar.
In the past, they might have sought to study in Europe or the United States. But those places have put up barriers that make it tough to get student visas. Mamadou Fall, the director of the Dakar Confucius Institute, says that the roughly 500 students it teaches find it nearly impossible to get student visas to the U.S. or Europe. But China is happy to oblige them — it now offers Senegalese students free visas and offers 60 of the brightest students from the institute full scholarships to China each year.
China's mammoth investment in infrastructure is a key part of its arsenal. As part of the One Belt, One Road strategy, the Chinese are building roads, ports, dams, railways and other infrastructure across Africa. These include a metro system in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and a vital railway connecting landlocked Ethiopia's 100 million people to Djibouti's Red Sea port, where the Chinese plan to open their first military base outside China. In Kenya, they financed the biggest post-colonial infrastructure project in the country: a nearly $4 billion railway linking Nairobi with the country's main Indian Ocean port in Mombasa. China is also building a major train network in Nigeria.
Attitudes toward the U.S. have changed in Africa since Trump took office, according to a Pew poll in June. Although Trump's strongman act remained popular in Nigeria, the pollster said, "the intensity of positive opinion has waned" in other sub-Saharan countries surveyed, compared with 2015. What's more, Trump's popularity is nowhere near that of previous Republican President George W. Bush.
Trump's comments disparaging Africans, along with his administration's travel ban and the threat to cut aid to African nations that voted in the U.N. against Trump's Jerusalem decision, send a clear message: The United States is retreating from the post-1945 international system it created, taking an "America First" position on global issues. China is stepping into the vacuum created by Trump in Africa — and almost everywhere else.
The danger for the U.S. is that Trump's insulting words make China an even more enticing partner for African nations. This is a moment of opportunity for the Asian giant. Trump's apparent disrespect may push African nations — and the young Africans who represent their future — further into China's arms.
The one area in Africa where America has shown growing interest is the military and counterterrorism front. Trump might be uninterested in Africa's potential, but he has ramped up America's military engagement on the continent. Trump is playing by the usual Africa playbook, which frames the continent as a place of wars, famines and disease rather than a tapestry of nations and cultures. We Africans have long faced the idea of being from an undesirable continent — a place caricatured for centuries for its nightmares and beauty. The Chinese, however, seem to recognize the potential of the fastest-growing continent on the planet.
I felt the sting of the president's words last week. I am from Somalia — one of the "shithole countries." But being on the ground in Africa the past few days, I also felt something else, something that may one day be understood as a turning point. Years from now, when you ask Africans when they lost faith in America, don't be surprised if they tell you it was the day a U.S. president labeled their country a "shithole."
Ismail Einashe (@IsmailEinashe) is a British-Somali freelance journalist.
Editor's note: NPR has decided in this case to spell out the vulgar word that the president reportedly used because it meets our standard for use of offensive language: It is "absolutely integral to the meaning and spirit of the story being told."
As Trump Insults African Countries, China Actively Embraces Them
China’s foreign minister visited four African countries ahead of the upcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
By Charlotte Gao January 17, 2018
https://thediplomat.com/2018/01/as-trump-insults-african-countries-china-actively-embraces-them/
Last week U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly insulted Haiti, El Salvador, and African nations by asking “Why do we want all these people from ‘shithole countries’ coming here?” at a meeting on the U.S. immigration policy. Although Trump later denied having used such vulgar terms — tweeting “The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used” — the incident deeply irritated African nations.
So far, Botswana, Senegal, South Africa, and Ghana have reportedly summoned U.S. diplomats to express their concerns. South Africa even issued a rare diplomatic protest to the United States.
Trump’s remarks, like a godsend from Beijing’s perspective, will effectively push African countries closer to China’s side. Beijing has been actively embracing Africa and trying to include the continent in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — Chinese President Xi Jinping’s flagship foreign policy.
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From January 12 to 16 — just as Trump’s insulting incident hit headlines — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited four African countries: Rwanda, Angola, Gabon, and São Tomé and Príncipe.*
During his visit, Wang urged all African countries to join China’s BRI, claiming that “the African continent was part of the ancient maritime silk road.”
“China has already started to explore cooperation opportunities with a number of African countries, especially those on the eastern coast of Africa and has achieved positive progress in this regard,” said Wang during his visit in Madagascar.
During a joint interview with Chinese media, Wang explained China’s vision for the African continent, as well as the whole community of developing countries, using much more pleasant language than Trump’s remarks.
“Many African countries appreciate and support the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, and China hopes to inject new impetus into cooperation with Africa through jointly building the initiative,” Wang said.
“As a natural and historical extension of the Belt and Road, Africa should not be absent in the co-building process, nor should it be left behind in the mutual development of China and the world,” he added.
While Trump’s administration was hurriedly mending relations after Trump’s remarks, Wang further said that “Africa is always a priority in China’s diplomacy” during his visit in Rwanda on January 13. As proof, Wang noted that it is a tradition for China’s foreign minister to make the first trip of the new year to African countries. “The tradition has been kept for 28 years till now,” he pointed out.
This year will be an especially important one for China’s relationships with African countries, as Beijing is set to host FOCAC, a set of ministerial conferences between China and the African countries held every three years. The first one was held in 2000 in Beijing, and the latest in 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 2015, China announced a $60 billion package plan for the China-Africa cooperation.
This year, to demonstrate that China highly values the relationship with Africa, Beijing decided to upgrade the 2018 FOCAC to a summit, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.
*A previous version of this article mistakenly included additional countries on Wang Yi’s itinerary.
特朗普噴非洲是爛國 美媒：把非洲推向中國懷抱
轉自多維新聞網 2018-01-21 22:40:50
http://www.dwnews.com...1516598545034...
近日，特朗普將海地、薩爾瓦多和一些非洲國家稱為“爛國”，認為這些國家的人不是美國想要的移民。這一爭議性言論遭到了媒體的狂轟濫炸，美媒認為這一行為無疑是將非洲推向了中國的懷抱。
綜合媒體1月22日報道稱，自特朗普（Donald Trump）上任以來，非洲對美國的態度發生了轉變。 特朗普稱非洲國家為“爛國家”，聯合國54個非洲成員罕見地一致要求他收回不當言論（圖源：VCG）
美國全國廣播公司（NPR）16日在題為《特朗普侮辱性言論把非洲向中國推近了》評論文章指出，特朗普的侮辱言辭讓中國成為對非洲國家更具誘惑力的夥伴，讓中國與非洲走得更近了。 文章指出，特朗普的侮辱性言論令全非洲人民震驚。一位聯合國發言人都稱特朗普的言論是“種族主義的”，非洲聯盟表達了“憤怒”，稱“美國政府對非洲大陸及其人民有著巨大的誤解”。
文章稱，隨著事件的持續發酵，這些對話忽略了一件事情：特朗普的侮辱言辭是在非洲在戰略上轉向中國之際出現的。在西非，處處皆能看到中國的存在。
文章稱，對非洲年輕人來說，美國已經成為越來越不受歡迎的國家，他們開始到別處尋找更好的生活。有記者訪問了塞內加爾達喀爾大學孔子學院。來這裏學習漢語的非洲學生們希望通過這種方式在中國找到理想工作，或者在遍布非洲大陸的中國存在中分一杯羹。
中國在基礎設施方麵進行了巨大的投資。作為“一帶一路”倡議的內容之一，中國人在非洲建設公路、港口、大壩、鐵路和其他基礎設施。其中包括埃塞俄比亞首都亞的斯亞貝巴的輕軌係統和連接埃塞俄比亞與吉布提的重要鐵路。在肯尼亞，中國投資建設了該國獨立以來最大的基礎設施項目——造價近40億美元的蒙內鐵路，將內羅畢與該國主要的印度洋港口蒙巴薩連接起來。中國還在尼日利亞建設一個大規模鐵路網。
皮尤研究中心2017年6月的一份民調顯示，自特朗普上任以來，非洲對美國的態度發生了轉變。調查顯示，盡管特朗普的強人行為在尼日利亞受到歡迎，但相比2015年，其他受訪的撒哈拉以南非洲國家的“積極觀點有所減退”。
文章稱，特朗普的侮辱言辭讓中國成為對非洲國家更具誘惑力的夥伴。對這個亞洲巨人來說，這是一個機會。特朗普明顯不尊重的態度或許會將非洲國家——以及代表非洲未來的年輕人——進一步推向中國的懷抱。
文章稱，特朗普還在按照老皇曆行事，將非洲視為一個充滿戰爭、饑荒和疾病的大陸，而不是一個由各個國家和各種文化組成的大陸。但是，中國人似乎認識到了這個地球上發展最快的大陸的潛力。
文章稱，從現在起的幾年裏，當你問非洲人他們何時對美國失去了信心，如果他們回答從一位美國總統把他們的國家列為“爛國（shithole countries）”的那一天，請不要感到奇怪。
法國資訊網站21日報道，法國總統馬克龍（Emmanuel Macron）在接受英國廣播公司（BBC）采訪時，就特朗普評價非洲國家與海地為“爛國家”的言論表示，自己真心認為“我們應該尊重所有國家”。
馬克龍說道，這（指“爛國家”）當然不是一個該用到的詞。他認為如今很多中東和非洲的問題，都源於過去的失望與羞辱，人們必須明白這一點。馬克龍呼籲尊重這些國家，他表示，應該給予這些國家尊重，“這更為有效”。
特朗普噴非洲國家“爛國” 馬克龍：應尊重所有國家
【環球網報道 記者 王莉蘭】美國當地時間1月11日，在白宮舉行的一次關於移民問題的會議上，美國總統特朗普稱，“為什麽這些爛國家的人要來美國？”據與會人士透露，特朗普此番言論尤其指向非洲國家，以及海地與薩爾瓦多。
據“法國資訊”1月21日報道，法國當地時間1月21日，法國總統馬克龍在接受英國廣播公司(BBC)采訪時，就特朗普評價非洲國家與海地為“爛國家”的言論表示，自己真心認為“我們應該尊重所有國家”。
馬克龍說道，這(指“爛國家”)當然不是一個該用到的詞。他認為如今很多中東和非洲的問題，都源於過去的失望與羞辱，人們必須明白這一點。馬克龍呼籲尊重這些國家，他表示，應該給予這些國家尊重，“這更為有效”。
不過，報道稱，馬克龍同時表示，特朗普不是一名傳統的政界人士，並稱“我們關係很好”。馬克龍指出，盡管在一些議題上存在分歧，但自己希望與特朗普攜手共事，“我們已經建立緊密的聯係”。
對於特朗普的推文，馬克龍認為這是“個人反應與政治反應的混合物”，作為如同美國這類國家的總統時，這是“不可行的”。
