China no longer pushovers – Prof Botchwey

The Executive Chairman of the African Development Initiative, Prof. Kwesi Botchwey says America and the developed world need to get used to the fact that there has been a change in the balance of power.

“The Americans and the other developed world are having a hard time just coming to terms that they have been beaten,” he said, adding that China, for instance had become efficient and a force to reckon with, especially in the area of technology and the earlier the Americans accepted that, the better.

Chinese technology
“The Chinese are no longer the pushovers,” he said, adding that from importation and exportation of simple items, the Chinese were now exporting semi-conductors and building their own air carriers.

Speaking on: "Multilateralism in a globalised world and its implications on global stability", Prof. Botchwey said additionally, the Chinese telecom giant, Huawei Communications is currently the leading company in the development of the next generation of internet - Fifth-generation wireless (5G) in the world.

Speaking at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College at Teshie near Accra as part of the college's series of lectures on contemporary issues, Prof. Botchwey emphasised that the Chinese did not reach those heights by stealing other people’s ideas as had always been said.

“They did not do this by stealing, but through capacity building. They have simply become efficient and you cannot do anything about. That is the truth,” he told a cross-section of the top hierarchy of the Ghana Armed Forces and invited guests at the lecture.

Prof Botchwey explained that the 5G technology is multiple times faster where a large document can be downloaded in just seconds, adding that the Asian world had risen up to the task.

US-led trade war
He said the onset of the US-led trade war, marred by the imposition of tariffs on mainly and not limited to Chinese imports, as part of President Trump's America First trade policy, triggered retaliatory actions from affected countries.

Prof Botchwey mentioned some of the affected countries as India, China, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and even the European Union, where President Trump imposed tariffs on the importation of vehicles.

IMF & World Bank
He said for instance that for the past 70 years the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had always been an European, while that of the World Bank an American, even though other countries, particularly the Asians felt they were a significant part of the two institutions.

Prof Botchwey explained that the decision by the Americans and Europeans to withhold their contributions to the two institutions to the disadvantage of their smooth operation compounded the tension between them and the Asians.

He added that the decision to further politicise the IMF and the World Bank, and to use them to punish countries whose conduct did not favour the Americans led to the establishment of regional multilateral institutions, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which operated just like the IMF.