US President George W. Bush denied yesterday that China was a "fierce competitor" of the US in Africa, amid worries in Washington and Europe about Beijing's growing presence.
"I don't view Africa as zero-sum for China and the United States. I think we can pursue agendas without creating a great sense of competition," Bush said during a joint press conference with Ghanaian President John Kufuor.
"Inherent in your question is `do I view China as a fierce competitor on the continent of Africa?' No, I don't," Bush told a reporter asking about the growing rivalry in investments and influence on the continent.
Bush is pushing trade and aid in Ghana, the latest stop on what he has dubbed his "mission of mercy" to Africa.
Bush got a ceremonial welcome yesterday in the West African nation, a stable democracy that gets US assistance to fight disease, build roads, train teachers and expand markets for its crops. Several thousand children in their school uniforms lined the streets of Accra and waved tiny Ghanian flags as Bush's motorcade made its 10-minute drive to Osu Castle, a centuries-old building that was once a hub of slave-trading and now is the seat of government.
Ghana has the kind of story Bush likes to promote: an African nation that has largely avoided ethnic clashes and played a busy peacekeeping role on the continent. Ghana has boosted its economy and cut its poverty markedly, although many people remain poor.
Compared with Tuesday in Rwanda, where Bush absorbed the history of that country's 1994 genocide, his agenda in Ghana had a decidedly lighter feel. He was due to eat lunch with Peace Corps volunteers, stop at an international trade fair that resembles a county fair back home and take in a T-ball game.
During a news conference, Bush is to announce an effort to combat neglected tropical diseases, a White House official said.
The US is a big trading partner of Ghana.
Bush is meeting with Ghanaian President John Kufuor, an Oxford-educated leader who came to power about the same time Bush did. Kufuor is given credit here for economic reforms, open government and regional leadership. Ghana, working through the UN, has sent peacekeepers to Lebanon, Afghanistan, Rwanda, Pakistan and the Balkans. That record is sure to win favor from Bush.
The US president is in Africa for six days to showcase US generosity and put a human face on foreign aid. His initiatives -- with backing from Congress -- have reduced cases of malaria and HIV/AIDS, expanded education and built up infrastructure in Africa.
Those helpful efforts are overshadowed in the US by the unpopular Iraq war, Bush's feuds with lawmakers, and other woes that have dragged down his approval rating.
Ghana received more than US$55 million in development aid from the US last year. It won approval in 2006 for a five-year, US$547 million anti-poverty aid package from the US.
Bush was due to cap his night in Ghana with a formal state dinner, then he is off to Liberia before flying back to Washington.
Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist Anne Frank and a tireless educator about the horrors of the Holocaust, has died. She was 96. The Anne Frank Trust UK, of which Schloss was honorary president, said she died on Saturday in London, where she lived. Britain’s King Charles III said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Schloss, who cofounded the charitable trust to help young people challenge prejudice. “The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding
Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event. The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers. Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight. More than 800 people had sought
‘DISRESPECTFUL’: Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s most influential adviser, drew ire by posting an image of Greenland in the colors of the US flag, captioning it ‘SOON’ US President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his claim that Greenland should become part of the US, despite calls by the Danish prime minister to stop “threatening” the territory. Washington’s military intervention in Venezuela has reignited fears for Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex, given its strategic location in the arctic. While aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump reiterated the goal. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “We’ll worry about Greenland in
PERILOUS JOURNEY: Over just a matter of days last month, about 1,600 Afghans who were at risk of perishing due to the cold weather were rescued in the mountains Habibullah set off from his home in western Afghanistan determined to find work in Iran, only for the 15-year-old to freeze to death while walking across the mountainous frontier. “He was forced to go, to bring food for the family,” his mother, Mah Jan, said at her mud home in Ghunjan village. “We have no food to eat, we have no clothes to wear. The house in which I live has no electricity, no water. I have no proper window, nothing to burn for heating,” she added, clutching a photograph of her son. Habibullah was one of at least 18 migrants who died
RSS