"The greatest threat to Christianity in Africa may come from China." What an amazing statement! We hear a lot about Isalm and its stake in Africa, but who is paying attention to China? China's approach is simple, "do everything you need to do to build markets and gain resources." Richard Behar traveled extensively throughout Africa talking with leaders and businessmen about China’s great African resource adventure. With nearly 1.3 billion people China is desperate to secure resources to expand its economy. Unfortunately the US and Western countries have made it easy to shift their efforts to Africa. China’s approach to Africa is to offer just enough to make it a better deal than what they received from the West. The real bonus is that there are not ethical issues. China is not interested in fair labor practices or just pay scales. They are willing to pay bribes where necessary and obtain incredibly favorable terms in return for a few roads, dams, hospitals and “extra” cash to the right parties. As we saw in the Olympics, China is about winning, not “playing” fair. The only hope for Africa is a new breed of leaders who are willing to lay their self interests aside for the interests of all the people.
The interesting thing about the Chinese is that they are fighting the Islamists (generically referred to by the media as "terrorists") on a DAILY basis. Some reports guesstimate that the attacks reach nearly 200 per day EVERY day, but that the government is good at controlling the flow of news. Here's a composite of the attacks I could find info on online:
As their influence grows in Africa, they are gonna go head to head with the Islamists there, too, and I'll bet they won't be able to keep that underwraps as well as they have the attacks in China.
t
Diligo Deus Vixi Liberum