Good Morning.I want to thank you for the extraordinary opportunity to come to this university. Although I traveled to China in the mid-90's, this is my first time in Shanghai. I cannot imagine a better way and better place to continue my education about your great country than right here at your university.
You and your institution reflect the global vision of this great city of Shanghai, recognizing that knowledge knows no boundaries and has no nationality.
Just to cite one example, as an American, I am proud to note that New York University now has a study abroad program on this campus. This is exactly the kind of program that brings our countries together.
I am here today to speak about Africa. I have dedicated much of my career, indeed my life, to serving my country in Africa and dealing with African affairs.
I speak as much from the heart as from the head because I have grown to love the African continent. And I have had the good fortune to witness its rise in the world out of the ashes of colonialism. I also am very optimistic about the future of the African continent.
I will make two points:
First, I will outline U.S. policy in Africa, emphasizing that Africa now sits front and center in our foreign policy. Second, the U.S. and China have mutual interests in Africa, and are committed to working together to support the continent's continued success.
For the United States, Africa for too long was on the margins of U.S. foreign policy interests. In World War II, Africa was a strategic stepping stone to the places that mattered in Europe.
In the Cold War, Africa was a sideshow to the struggle that mattered -- in Europe and East Asia. Even as we Americans set in place well-intentioned economic development policies, it was too often with the idea of doing good for Africa, rather than with Africa.
All that has changed. In 2001, the U.S. changed its foreign policy strategy, a move long overdue with the close of the Cold War.
We decided not to rank U.S. interests according to the traditional hierarchy of regions. In that ranking, Europe was considered a vital national security interest, Asia and the Middle East important, and Latin America and Africa mainly of humanitarian interest. We no longer operate according to this hierarchy.
Instead, the U.S. has implemented a strategy to operate more effectively in a world where non-state actors, and illegal trans-border activity, can pose essential threats to even the most powerful of countries.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has applied this vision to her strategy of transformational diplomacy.
The goal is to develop a network of well-governed states capable through responsible sovereignty of protecting themselves and contributing to regional security. By so doing, they also protect the international system. She has described her approach as "doing things with people, not for them." Note the key prepositions: with, not for.
In a word, this means partnership. This vision supports African leadership as strategic partners and seeks to build up Africa's institutional capacity. In other words, doing things with Africans, not for them.
We believe this vision dovetails with Africa's own growing emphasis on the values of freedom, the rule of law, and collective security, as embedded in the African Union's New Partnership for African Development.
The New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) Peer Review mechanism reinforces African leaders' own efforts to promote democracy and good governance among their peers.
The U.S. understands that there are new, rising strategic powers around the world, including Sub-Saharan Africa.
Nations such as South Africa and Nigeria that have used their diplomatic, economic, and military power to shape the continent for the better. Mali, Mozambique, Liberia, Botswana, Benin and many other African countries are leading the way as examples of the power of democratic rule of law.
U.S.-Africa policy seeks to nurture relationships with such strong, capable, and well-governed African partners.
Nothing has been more important than ending conflict in Africa. We are pursuing that goal by backing African conflict mediation and strengthening Africa's capacity to carry out peace support operations and to fight terror.
To do so, we work directly with lead Africa mediators and multilaterally with the United Nations, African Union, and sub-regional organizations like ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States.
There's plenty of evidence that this approach works. We've had success working with African partners in ending six conflicts in six countries in six years: Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, Congo, Burundi, and Sudan North-South conflict.
The terrible conflict in Darfur seems to be ending as well, with plans for international peacekeeping force finally falling into place.
In the case of Somalia, the African Union is responding aggressively to meet peacekeeping needs and there is reason to be hopeful for a long-term solution.
Contrary to impressions that many have, let me say that Africa is doing well now by traditional economic criteria. In 2006, the economy of all sub-Saharan Africa grew by 5.5 percent -- the same rate the world economy grew. Put differently, twenty-three African nations grew at a rate faster than 5 percent. Only one - Zimbabwe - failed to grow at all.
U.S. policy seeks to support and sustain that growth over the long term. It has become a truism that trade is the best aid. Creating the basis for a healthy, open trading relationship with Africa is a key objective.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has brought increased trade flows and new industry to Africa. Thanks in part to AGOA, two-way trade between the U.S and Africa has risen from $29 billion in 2000 to over $71 billion last year.
In just one year, 2005-2006, U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa rose by 17 percent (to $12 billion). Imports from Africa also rose by 17 percent (to $59.2 billion).
These figures didn't happen by chance. AGOA has helped jump-start the rise in bilateral trade. AGOA has become the cornerstone of our trade and investment policy in Africa. It was and is a great idea that has worked.
AGOA is designed on purpose to benefit responsive and responsible partners in Africa. That is why eligibility in AGOA requires a commitment to economic openness, transparent and democratic government, human rights, and poverty reduction. 38 countries have so far qualified.
I said that it is crucial to support Africa's quest for building accountable democratic institutions.
To succeed in the global economy, nations need:
- fair and transparent legal systems;
- free markets that unleash the creativity of their citizens;
- banking systems that serve people at all income levels; and,
- a business climate that welcomes foreign investment and supports local entrepreneurs.
We're doing this through a new program, the Millennium Challenge Account.
This program works in countries that have already demonstrated commitment to fight corruption, implement democratic reforms, invest in health and education, and promote economic freedom.
African governments -- not Americans -- must come up with ideas, a change in our way of doing development. Once again, we seek a partnership of equals, Americans and African, where Africans take ownership and responsibility.
Right now five African nations have compacts in place worth nearly $1.5 billion: Ghana, Benin, Cape Verde, Mali, and Madagascar. 14 others are waiting in line.
Let me repeat: Our goal is to help Africa reach a sustainable growth rate that will lift up all Africans. We are committed to the long term success of the continent.
True commitment means dealing with health: notably, the terrible killing machines of AIDS and malaria. And the place to start is partnership with ministries of health, working with African leaders in their effort to battle disease.
We have taken on Africa's most daunting health challenges. President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was launched in 2003 as a five-year, $15 billion program to combat HIV/AIDS in 15 countries, 12 of them in sub-Saharan Africa. A few months ago, President Bush doubled this commitment to $30 billion over ten years.
For too long the West has turned a blind eye to malaria, which no longer exists in the developed world but is the #1 killer of Africans. We have begun to right that wrong.
In 2005, President Bush announced a $1.5 billion initiative to fight this disease in 15 African countries. This includes insecticide treated bed nets, indoor spraying, and life-saving anti-malaria medications.
To take one case, Angola, this initiative helped increase the number of children protected by nets from less than 5 percent to nearly 70 percent.
In the first year this initiative expanded malaria protection to more than six million Africans. This year -- the second year -- we expect the total to reach 30 million people.
Public diplomacy (people-to-people exchanges) is essential to successful foreign policy and national security. These citizen exchanges tap into citizen knowledge and expertise to increase international understanding and to support overall foreign policy goals.
As some of you know, I am presently in Shanghai to attend a symposium on "Women as an Economic Force," a leadership and business exchange program for American, Chinese, and African Women.
It is a perfect example of how people-to-people exchanges can inform and educate women entrepreneurs to become more effective actors in the economies of their countries and a practical example of grassroots contributions to overall economic growth.
I have just spelled out America's objectives and interests in Africa. Let me turn my attention what our two countries are doing together.
The U.S. approach to China in Africa and elsewhere is guided by a framework for "Strategic Dialogue" with the Chinese. In the process, we encourage China to take the long view in Africa, much as it does in everything else.
The long view in Africa means support for policies that bolster long term stability based on the democratically-based rule of law and respect for international human rights norms.
The United States sees China as a serious force in Africa, but one force among various others such as India, Brazil, Britain, France, and the U.S. China is another nation with real interests on the continent and that consequently will be active there.
Let me note that China is by no means new to Africa. What is new is the breadth and intensity of the engagement at a time when China is playing a growing role as a global power.
As part of our "Strategic Dialogue", Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer has traveled to China to discuss Africa with her Chinese counterparts.
Specifically, she convened the second U.S.-China Sub-Dialogue on Africa in Washington last March. The inaugural talks took place in Beijing in 2006.
The Washington discussions with Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun and his delegation were very productive and we hope to continue this exchange of ideas.
Assistant Secretary Frazer and Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai agreed that important progress had been made in Africa during the past year.
They declared that there were a number of areas that would benefit from greater U.S.-Chinese coordination, particularly in the health and agricultural sectors.
One especially positive highlight was China's favorable response to Assistant Secretary Frazer's suggestion that it provide engineers to support peacekeeping operations in Darfur.
Earlier this year, Andrew Natsios, the President's Special Envoy to Sudan, visited China to discuss Sudan. Also in January, the Director of the State Department's Office of Policy Planning met with his Chinese counterpart to discuss a range of issues, including many involving Africa.
These specific consultations with the Chinese on Africa are, of course, in addition to our continued contact with them through our embassies in African capitals and in Beijing.
Let me say that this is the start of a long-term dialogue between our two countries. Like you, we are thinking in terms of years and decades, not weeks and months. Likewise, we must think of Africa in terms of decades, not just the latest crisis.
America is indeed proud to make partnership with the nations of Africa the cornerstone of our policy. It is a simple yet powerful vision that finally recognizes the strategic importance of the continent.
As all of you know, partnership quietly sends another powerful message: that of respect. Our respect for Africa and Africans is rooted in 400 years of shared and often painful history, one that has done much to define what America and American culture really are. The basic recognition that Africa is part of who we are as a nation underpins our permanent commitment to the success of this great continent, whether we talk about trade, economic growth, rule of law, health, or culture.
You, the leaders of tomorrow's China, know so well what commitment to learning can mean to a country.
East China Normal University's outreach to universities around the world, including Africa and the United States, stands as a beacon of the power of educational institutions to make this not only a better country, but a better world for all of us.
In this spirit, too, America seeks constant dialogue with China, cooperation where possible, and a long-term commitment to what Africans themselves want: peace, prosperity, good governance and respect for international norms of human rights.
Thank you again for this opportunity.
