Gary Peters Asks Witness About Impact Of China's 'Strategic' Investment In Africa

5 days ago

During Thursday's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) asked General Michael E. Langley if China's global investment in Africa is bad for the United States.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, and I want to thank both of you for being here today and certainly I've

00:04Appreciated your participation in these hearings over the years and thank you for your service.

00:10General Cavoli, I want to begin by expressing my deepest respect for the soldiers that were lost in Lithuania last week.

00:18One of those soldiers that was lost was from my state of Michigan

00:22And I just want folks to know that their service and their sacrifice will never be forgotten.

00:30General Langley,

00:32Exercise Northern Strike in Michigan helps train thousands of

00:37Service members from over 20 countries at the National All-Domain Warfighting Center. It's also known as NADWC.

00:43It's composed of Camp Grayling Training Center and over

00:4717,000 square miles of special-use military airspace at the Alpena Training Center.

00:52NADWC provides realistic joint force training with our global allies and our partners.

00:59In fact, Liberia has been a part of this exercise for the past several years.

01:05My question for you is what role do exercises like Northern Strike play in advancing AFRICOM's strategic goals on the continent?

01:15Senator, thanks for that question.

01:18You know our joint exercise program is indicative of

01:23the influence that we have, positive influence, in building institutional capacity with our African partners.

01:29And then the whole portfolio, and then the exercise that you mentioned as well,

01:35adds to their institutional capacity.

01:37That's why we're the preferred partner. As we go forward and they address their challenges in building

01:44security cooperation or the ability to address the multiple layered threats

01:52that these countries face, they choose the United States.

01:56I know that the Chinese Communist Party and even the Russian Federation are

02:02through their throes of efforts of trying to replicate it.

02:05But they always come back to the United States to be the preferred partner for building institutional capacity.

02:13So,

02:14for the exercise there and what Liberia does, they chose right.

02:19Well, that's good. And I want to kind of pick up on that as in terms of the competition we have with both Russia and the CCP

02:26and their influence operations in Africa. As you know,

02:30China employs strategic narratives to justify and enhance their presence in sub-Saharan Africa.

02:37Through partnerships with African journalist training programs, the CCP integrates its perspective into local media.

02:43It directly engages in more than 60 African political parties.

02:49But their most influential impact, I think you would agree, has been the Belt and Road Initiative, which has

02:55significantly impacted Africa's economic landscape through substantial investments, particularly infrastructure investments.

03:02In 2023, African countries experienced a 47 percent increase in Chinese construction contracts and

03:10114 percent surge in investments compared to the previous year, which totals about

03:15$21.7 billion, a substantial amount. So my question for you, sir, is can you expand upon the going

03:23presence that China has in Africa politically,

03:27economically, and militarily, and how that is a threat to our very important strategic interests on the continent?

03:36Yes, Senator. Thanks for that question.

03:40China's trying to set the globe now.

03:42They want to be the global hegemon now.

03:46Chairman Xi has put out a 2049 plan, but they want to get there earlier.

03:50So there lies the importance that we engage and show assurance actions.

03:57But we just can't just harbor the facts. We harbor the facts, but we don't own the narrative.

04:02That's being drowned out by the CCP and their campaign plans

04:07to be able to influence civil society,

04:11influence the militaries. They can't replicate what we do.

04:15Whether it be they're

04:18trying to copy of what we're doing in our IMET or

04:22our international military education training,

04:26it doesn't compare. And we match our efforts, whether it's Title 22 funding or Title 10 funding,

04:34whether it be security,

04:36the State Partnership Program, or the SFABs, Security Force Assistance Brigades.

04:43They build institutional capacity like none other. Our African partners know that. So whatever is in the information space,

04:50we do need to meet it with a comparable narrative. Thanks, sir.

04:54Thank you. And once again, thank you to both of you for your service.

Gary Peters Asks Witness About Impact Of China's 'Strategic' Investment In Africa

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