First of all, we should applaud US President Barack Obama for finally doing something encouraging and concrete for world development by hosting a US-Africa Summit amid all those entanglements and setbacks in his domestic and foreign policies.
Obama is gathering nearly 50 African heads of state in Washington for an unprecedented summit, and on Tuesday he promised a $33 billion commitment to the continent inflicted with poverty and conflicts, and also labeled as a land of vim and vigor.
The summit testifies to the eagerness of the Obama administration to strengthen its belated engagement with Africa, and is a bid to catch up with China and other newly emerging country's rapid engagement with the dynamic continent.
China surpassed the United States in 2009 to become Africa's largest trading partner, the same year Obama started his first term as president of the US. Over the past five years US trade with Africa has continually declined, and China-Africa trade now stands at $170 billion, greatly outnumbering the $60 billion trade between Africa and the US.
Instead of complaining about China's investment in Africa, the US should discard the traditional Western mindset of rivalry and learn how to join hands with other parties in promoting the development of the continent.
Moving on from this African move, Obama should also modify his Asia-Pacific policy.
Given the sluggish and even worsening situation in Middle East affairs, the bleak outlook for the US economy and paralyzed bipartisan institutions, promoting better ties with China could still be Obama's biggest political legacy if he plays his cards right. Unfortunately, even the keenest observer, can see he has been playing his hands badly.
Obama's second term will soon end, but Obama's China policy, which at one point promised so much, has seen little progress ever since, and China-US ties have reverted to being as turbulent and uneven as before.
Though Obama has been less provocative than his predecessors, China-US ties have seen an increasing number of conflicts and new problems keep emerging in addition to those that still remained to be resolved, as the US remains unwilling to accommodate China's rise.
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