China’s Engagement in Africa Becomes Focal Point at Linda Thomas- Greenfield’s Confirmation Hearing to Become U.S. Envoy to the UN
Linda Thomas-Greenfield (photo), President Biden’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, came under criticism on Wednesday during her confirmation hearing, for a speech she made in 2019 at a now-closed Confucius Institute in Savannah, Georgia. Republican senators argued the speech was overly complimentary of Chinese engagement in Africa. In that speech ( transcript ), Thomas-Greenfield said both the U.S. and China could learn from each other’s experience in Africa in contributing to African development. The portion of the speech that got the most attention at yesterday’s hearing, however, was the play on China’s “win-win development” motto: “In the U.S.-China-Africa relationship, win-win-win cooperation is possible and common development can be achieved. If we all took a step back to consider it, we would see that if we banded together to support Africa’s growth and development, we would all be better for it.” Asked by Idaho Senator James Risch to comment on the speec