April 21, 2010. Retrieved online: April 21, 2010, from S. Derrickson Moore, Las Cruces Sun-News
LAS CRUCES – When China and Africa join forces, how will it impact the world?
World experts will gather in Las Cruces Friday and Saturday for “China in Africa: International Perspectives on a Developing Relationship,” a conference at New Mexico State University.
“China’s recent heavy investment in economic and cultural projects in Africa is raising questions about Beijing’s motives and about the long-term consequences of China’s growing presence in Africa, not just for countries there, but for the United States and other countries as well. The conference will explore these issues and their political and economic consequences for the United States,” according to a statement released by NMSU.
“This very rapidly developing relationship raised a lot of questions for countries like the U.S. Some critics wonder if this is really benefiting ordinary Africans or is it just self-serving on the part of China. We’ll look at some of these issues,” said NMSU history professor Ken Hammond, co-chairman of the Confucius Institute, which is cosponsoring the conference with NMSU’s Black Programs and the International Relations Institute (IRI).
Hammond said a similar conference two years ago, exploring relationships between China, Mexico and the U.S., “generated a lot of interest. We’ve been working on this conference for over a year. It’s allowed us to work with other groups and bring issues to this campus that we don’t spend a lot of time thinking about.”
Delano Lewis, former U.S. Ambassador to South Africa and head of NMSU’s IRI, will offer opening remarks at conference, which is free and open to the public.
Registration begins at 8 a.m. Friday in the Corbett Center Auditorium. Friday’s agenda features informational sessions at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., with a 4 p.m. reception.
Read the Las Cruces Sun-News article.
