Today, Les, Jess, and Jamil discuss the China’s new Foreign Minister’s first international trip: a weeklong tour of countries across the African continent. The new foreign minister is following in the footsteps of his predecessors, who have for more than three decades started each year with a trip to Africa. This is big news as the U.S. is currently battling China for influence in Africa – among many other regions across the globe.

Does China view the continent differently than the U.S. does? Did China beat the U.S. to identify and take advantage of strategic opportunities in Africa? And are current U.S. initiatives and commitments enough to counter Chinese influence in the region?

Hear our experts debate these issues and more in less than 10 minutes on our latest episode of Fault Lines!

Want to learn more about this topic? Check out these articles that our experts used to frame our discussion:

https://apnews.com/article/politics-china-africa-qin-gang-ethiopia-1132767663ac4a8f8951f07cba5a77de

https://www.politico.com//news/2022/12/12/biden-africa-summit-china-00073508

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@jamil_n_jaffer

@NotTVJessJones

@lestermunson

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Episode 168: The Diplomatic Race to Africa