ANTI-CHINA BOT FARM IN GHANA?

A recent report about Niger kicking out Chinese company managers that didn’t comply with the country’s rules led many on X to denounce China. However, their posts looked like word-for-word copies, leading West Africa history buff Tommy Miles (@tommymiles on X) to conclude these accounts were part of a coordinated US digital campaign to discredit China in Africa. 

China’s rapid economic rise since it began allowing foreign investment in 1978 has challenged Western dominance, particularly in Africa, where Chinese loans and investments have made significant strides in building infrastructure over the past 25 years. 

In response, the US intensified efforts to counter China’s influence, with the US Congress allocating $1.6 billion to anti-China propaganda efforts through a law titled ‘Countering the PRC Malign Influence Fund Authorization Act of 2023.’ The US has also pushed anti-China messaging through outlets like AFRICOM’s Africa Defense Forum and the recently dismantled Voice of America. Meanwhile, the US does not similarly scrutinise other Western powers’ exploitation of Africa.

Our reporter, William Sakawa (nehemiahsakawa on IG), breaks it down.

Sources

Bot farm

https://x.com/tommymiles/status/1900589340314525916?t=7TZtvl7N9FqL2uo_SC80hA

Roads and rail

https://africa.cgtn.com/chinese-fm-no-global-modernization-without-african-modernization

IMF alternative

https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/why-it-may-be-good-thing-chinese-lending-reducing-clout-imf 

Anti-China propaganda bill

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-bill-could-turn-heat-093000927.html 

Zimbabwe accuses US of anti-China propaganda

https://www.herald.co.zw/us-plan-to-discredit-chinese-investments-unmasked/

AFRICOM magazine

https://adf-magazine.com/?s=China 

How France sabotaged Africa’s development

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2024/11/17/the-crisis-of-french-imperialism-debating-military-coups-in-africa/ 

China as West alternative

https://www.jri.co.jp/english/periodical/rim/1999/RIMe199904threereforms  

Pivot to Asia

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-american-pivot-to-asia