China’s sustained engagement across the continent stands in stark contrast to a US approach driven purely by strategic utility
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenAlex LoAlex Lo has been an SCMP columnist since 2012, commenting on China and international affairs. Published: 5:30am, 26 Aug 2026The gaffe at last month’s Aids 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro, where a US State Department presentation displayed a map of Africa with every country mislabelled, serves as more than a source of embarrassment. It was a potent symbol of the distance between Washington’s rhetoric and its real stance regarding the African continent.
Earlier this year, Nick Checker, a senior US State Department official, spoke of “resetting” US relations with Africa, pivoting away from dependency and towards mutually beneficial partnerships. Yet, as the mislabelled map suggests, the actual engagement often feels disconnected, chaotic and transactional.
This pattern echoed throughout the Cold War era. Washington’s support for many brutal and corrupt regimes was often dictated by narrow geopolitical interests rather than the aspirations of African citizens, and this continues to this day.
