Ted Cruz Questions Witnesses About China's Malign Influence In Africa Impeding US Diplomatic Efforts

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At Wednesday's Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) questioned Troy Fitrell, Senior Bureau Official at the State Department's Bureau of African Affairs, about how China undermines U.S. interests in Africa.

Transcript

00:00Ambassador, I want to get back to the topic of critical minerals.

00:04In your opening statement, you described the really dominant position China has with critical

00:11minerals in Africa, and unfortunately, America lost significant ground in the Biden administration.

00:21And you focused on the supply chain, and President Biden canceled mineral leases for the Twin

00:27Metals mined in Minnesota.

00:31And the administration also deliberately rejected Alaska's Ambler Road project.

00:36And blocking domestic critical minerals mining only reinforces our overseas critical mineral

00:43supply chain reliance, and that's a market, unfortunately, that China dominates.

00:50Less than 1% of the global rare earth element refining capacity exists in the United States.

00:57Most U.S. mined or collected rare earth element material is sent to China for separation and

01:04processing.

01:06Trump's executive order calling for, quote, immediate measures to increase American mineral

01:11production has put us back on the right course.

01:16We need your leadership to marshal resources to cultivate partnerships in the critical mineral

01:21sector in Africa.

01:23And for the United States to be an alternative to China in Africa, we need to create real alternatives

01:29in Africa.

01:30We need to translate the talk and policy into tangible action and impact.

01:35Could you please describe the efforts underway within the department to work with our international

01:40partners across Africa and U.S. companies to build a more resilient, transparent and diversified

01:48supply chain of critical minerals from Africa to the United States?

01:53Thank you very much for raising that.

01:55I spend more time working with the American private sector than I do with government officials,

02:01because they're the ones who are going to be key to solving this issue.

02:05It would be easy and cheap and ultimately disastrous to continue to rely on China for these sorts

02:12of things.

02:13We do have to have our own domestic capacity.

02:15I'm not the one who does domestic work, but there are people across this government that

02:19do and we engage on a regular basis.

02:22When it comes to making sure our allies and partners are involved as well, I spent a good

02:26bit of time this morning with the European Union's Peace and Security Committee because they're

02:32concerned about these issues as well.

02:34And they also have a challenge that they need to invest in minerals processing and usage.

02:43Quite simply, it's my job to get the throughput for that processing.

02:49As we have operations in Houston for developing critical minerals processing, we have new operations

02:57also coming up the Mississippi Valley, particularly in Arkansas, I believe.

03:02It's my job to get the throughput for that.

03:04And that's where I'm engaging with the mining companies and with the transportation companies

03:08and the power companies to make sure that that's doable.

03:11China has also been leveraging its power to advance its diplomatic goals and undermine American

03:20diplomacy.

03:21And it uses its relationship to undermine, in particular, the diplomatic status of Taiwan.

03:28In April, Somalia banned Taiwanese passport holders from entering the country.

03:34in response to deepening ties between Somaliland and Taiwan.

03:40This action by Somalia prevented Taiwan's foreign minister from undertaking a planned visit to Somaliland.

03:48As if the Chinese Communist Party's political interference wasn't enough, there are reports that the support

03:55China provides to the Somali government makes its way to anti-Somaliland groups opposing Somaliland.

04:04Let me be clear.

04:05China is leveraging Somalia against the pro-US, pro-Israel, pro-West Somaliland because of Somaliland's

04:13relationship with Taiwan.

04:15How should the United States approach this challenge and similar efforts by China to undermine

04:21Taiwan's diplomatic status in Africa and the Horn specifically?

04:28Thank you very much.

04:29The question of Taiwan across Africa is hugely important.

04:34Taiwan is an extremely productive, positive and responsible member of the international community.

04:39And so our engagements with them and cooperative engagements with them across the continent matter.

04:46And in the countries where they're finding problematic issues, where we believe at the behest of China,

04:54they're receiving harassment from those governments.

04:57For us, it's critical to make clear to those governments that when they harass Taiwan like that,

05:04they're also making it clear their own lack of commitment to a positive kind of engagement with

05:10an open society.

05:11And for that reason, they would be putting in jeopardy or calling into question their relationship

05:18with us.

05:19And so those are the kinds of conversations we need to keep having.

05:24We need to make sure it are understood.

05:27It's best to be able to stave these off before they become public.

05:31But diplomacy often operates in an imperfect information environment.

05:38But making sure that people understand afterward that this is going to affect the relationship

05:43with us.

05:44And that's why we were happy that the government of Somalia actually rescinded that order and

05:50started respecting the Taiwanese passports again.

05:54Tell us a bit about how the United States should be assisting and strengthening partners like

05:59Somaliland to counter China.

06:04We engage with partners like that.

06:07The ones who are looking to go in a positive direction, who have that positive trajectory,

06:12we'll meet them where they are and find ways to engage.

06:14And we do have extensive engagement with Somaliland.

06:18We do currently respect the territorial integrity of Somalia.

06:23And the decision of its construction is a question for Somalians, including Somalilanders.

06:33But for us, it's vastly more important that all of these different groups and these different

06:37states recognize the greater threat of ISIS and Al-Shabaab, which are causing just dramatic

06:45attacks and mayhem in their country, that that's the real enemy and that they need to work

06:52together against that rather than spending their efforts with political infighting amongst

06:59themselves.

07:00Okay.

07:01So one more question.

07:02I'm deeply concerned about our posture in Africa regarding space development.

07:08This is an area where the United States must lead.

07:10We already have a NASA presence in South Africa, Angola, Rwanda, and Nigeria are all signatories

07:17to the Artemis Accords.

07:19Several other countries, including Kenya, are also emerging as leaders in developing space

07:23capabilities.

07:25Africa's space industry is ripe for U.S. commercial diplomacy.

07:29The department should be working hand-in-hand with the private sector to help our partners

07:33in Africa develop their own space capabilities.

07:36Last month, I met with 11 members of Botswana's National Assembly, and I have since learned

07:42in March, Botswana launched its first satellite into space in partnership with SpaceX.

07:48This is the type of commercial partnerships we need to see more of.

07:53What are your thoughts on commercial space diplomacy, and how can we push back on China through building

07:58space partnerships in Africa?

08:01Thank you for that.

08:03Space is an exciting new opportunity for the continent and for everyone in the world.

08:08The African Union just established its African Space Agency with a founding engagement in Cairo.

08:15We were there in force because this is where we can accomplish a lot of interesting things.

08:22So we hit on that.

08:23When Botswana was launching its satellite with SpaceX, the president was flying to California

08:30for that.

08:31So we frankly made sure by inviting him to stop into Washington because we specifically

08:36wanted to recognize what it means to have a forward-looking policy.

08:42I don't think I'm breaching any confidence when I say that Secretary Rubio described it as

08:47the single best meeting he'd ever had.

08:49It was all positive.

08:51But this is what happens when you work with a government that really wants to do things

08:55the right way.

08:56And that's why even though we still have to advocate for American companies in Botswana,

09:02we talk to them about ongoing practices and with their neighbors, the simple fact is they're

09:07a good partner.

09:08We engage with them extensively and we end up having tremendous success with it.

09:13And they're an example for the rest of the region.

09:15Great.

09:16You may have to tell the secretary that he hurt our feelings, that the meeting was better

09:20than when he meets with us.

09:23That really is hurtful.

09:24Senator Booker.

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09:52Senator Booker.

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