US military sets its sights on confronting ‘ambition’ of the People’s Liberation Army in a bid to curb China’s influence in Africa
General Michael Langley, who leads the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), warned that China was replicating its training programmes such as its US International Military Education and Training (IMET), which provides grant-based training to foreign military and civilian personnel.
“They’re [China] trying to replicate what we do best in our IMET programme,” Langley said on the sidelines of the Africa Chiefs of Defence Conference in Nairobi last week.
IMET has seen thousands of Africans go through the programme but the move by President Donald Trump to cut foreign aid has hurt such programmes.
