U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs said that the United States looks forward to working with China to further African development.

Jendayi E. Frazer, made the remark while delivering a speech on U.S. policy in Africa to Peking University students and teachers as well on Wednesday morning.

"A prosperous Africa is a goal we share not only with China-but with many others. In this regard, it will be important to enhance donor coordination not only to avoid duplication of efforts, but also to optimize all existing sources of assistance in order to achieve our mutual objectives."

"Mutual" is the word Frazer repeated several times in her speech. "We look forward to working in partnership with China to achieve our mutual objectives," she said.

The U.S. Assistant Secretary is here in China for the third round of talks between the US and China on African issues. The first one was held in Beijing in November 2005, the second in Washington in March 2007.

Frazer believed that this regional sub-dialogue on Africa serves to address these types of issues and deepen the breadth of exchange between the United States and China over Africa.

She expected that the U.S. and China to find many opportunities to join hands. She also gave a specific instance of U.S. and China's cooperation in Africa.

"We're co-operating in African countries, for instance, in Liberia. At JFK, one of the JFK medical centers, we have Chinese and American doctors working side by side on malaria prevention program, that's one example."

The opportunities mainly lie in four major areas, she said, namely:

"Infrastructure (leveraging access to equipment, labor, materials and engineers for a variety of purposes); Agriculture (help Africans increase agricultural productivity and alleviate transportation, distribution and market bottlenecks); Health (China and the United States are involved in potentially complementary programs to eradicate malaria, polio and other endemic diseases); Perhaps in the future we might consider Environmental and Labor Standards (some business practices in extractive industries have created problems, particularly in the logging and oil sectors)."

Besides emphasizing the importance of deepening U.S.-China engagement and cooperation on the continent, Frazer introduced the new approach of U.S. foreign policy in Africa.

Democratic institution building, economic growth and development, fighting against disease, and conflict resolution are the four priorities of U.S.-Africa policy.

She described the past eight years of the Bush Administration as "a new era of development in Africa", "a collaboration that has gone further than any in our history in engaging and assisting the continent."

Her words reflected the change of American strategic calculations. President Bush's Africa trip in the past February, his initiatives to fight against HIV/Aids and malaria, and the recent creation of U.S. Africa Command all proved one fact that the Africa policy of the Bush administration is somehow dissimilar to that of its predecessors.

Before the 9.11 attacks, Africa remained at the bottom of the list in terms of strategic priorities of the U.S. government. Humanitarian considerations were the largest factor driving U.S. interest in Africa. But now, the United States is seeking strategic partnerships with African nations.

(CRI October 16, 2008)