West's Sanctimonious Attitude Is Giving China A Free Run In Africa — Congo Is The Latest

Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi took potshots at the moral lecturing and sanctimonious attitude of Western countries toward Africa.

Replying to a question by the French media LCI, he said that the West needs to change its point of view and start treating them [Africans] as partners with whom they can do business, and not as lesser beings.

Felix further adds to this and shows the mirror when the interviewer asks, "Are you saying that the Chinese or the Russians, who are undemocratic, behave better than us, Westerners, currently, in your opinion?" to which he replies in the affirmative.

He explains that even though Europe, which is geographically very close to Africa, is Africa’s most important partner, however, it is still very distant from Africa in terms of culture, and "we cannot understand how you [Europe] come and give us lessons on human rights."

"In France, Israel was condemned for some actions in Gaza. Does this prevent France from maintaining its relations with Israel? Why do they want to judge us when it comes to Africans? One should not judge us. We have the right to the friends we want and we are friends to all those who want to be our friends… Russians want friendship with Africa and DR Congo, so why should we refuse? There are no reasons for that," the DRC president stated.

Felix argues that the Russians and Chinese do not come with this sort of arrogance and lecturing, and that is why they are more successful in Africa than Europe.

This is the same morally sanctimonious attitude that the West displays against India.

Last week's coordinated attempts by US, Canadian, and Australian media organisations, all part of Five Eye intelligence alliance, to blame India and its external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) for alleged assassination and spying attempts on Khalistani terrorists in their respective countries are a case in point.

Last week, (on 29 April), Washington Post carried a report stating that the alleged assassination plot of Khalistani terrorist Gurupatwant Singh Pannu was planned after approval from then R&AW chief Samant Goel and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

Simultaneously, ABC, an Australian media organisation, carried a report stating that Australia had busted an Indian network of spies that were keeping tabs on Khalistanis in Australia.

And, just on cue, Canadian police arrested three individuals that they claim were involved in the assassination of another Khalistani terrorist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed last year in a gang war on Canadian soil.

In fact, the US wants an investigation against Indian officers that they claim were involved in the alleged murder plot, and want India to take action against them.

On top of it, they want India to publicly accept any wrongdoing and pledge that this will not be repeated again — showing the double standards and the hypocrisy of Western governments.

It seems that the West has the moral right to be the judge, jury, and executioner.

They believe that the West, can, and should, assassinate anybody whom they consider a threat, in a foreign country, without any repercussions while they shield and provide shelter to runaway terrorists and criminals of other nations.

It must be noted that various Khalistani terrorists residing in the US were given prior warning by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that their lives were in danger — leaving no doubt that Pannu and his Khalistani ilks are an asset to US.

That is why repeated requests from India to US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Germany authorities to arrest and curb their illegal activities have fallen on deaf ears.

Furthermore, they use these incidents to lecture and give certifications on the health of democracy and moral backsliding of the targeted country — in this case India.

Former US President Donald Trump's comments on stopping immigration, and the similar position taken by the Republican Party, however, suggest something entirely different. Racist attacks on Indian students are on the rise. As of April 2024, 11 Indian and Indian-origin students have been killed, and no visible deterrent actions have been taken by US authorities.

Moreover, comments by the US State Department on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) give the impression that India is not even allowed to make its own immigration laws without interference from Western countries.

And this is not limited to just human rights and intelligence matters but even on environmental matters, as well.

Despite knowing fully well that they are the main culprit for climate change and historical emissions, the West ask for equal contributions from lesser-developed countries that even now do not contribute to carbon dioxide (CO2) gas emissions, but have to face its consequences, nonetheless.

Historical emissions, to put it simply, primarily consist of carbon emissions generated by Western countries — mainly the United States and Europe — since the 1700s whose negative impacts are now being seen today and which have led to the Earth being 1.2°C warmer than the pre-industrial revolution times.

Two months ago, just like Congo’s President Felix, Guyana’s President Irfan Ali took another Western media journalist to task, dismantling sanctimonious positions taken by Western countries on climate change.

He took down a BBC journalist’s veiled question on the impact that extracting crude oil from its recently discovered oil deposits will have on the environment.

Ali reminded the BBC journo that Guyana has forest reserves the size of the UK and Scotland combined and even after extraction, Guyana will still be net zero in terms of carbon emissions while Europe and the West, which have contributed to close to half of the world’s CO2 emissions, continue to pollute.

Since 1851, the 29 Western countries — the US and Europe — account for 22 and 25 per cent of the total CO2 emissions of the world, respectively.

And even today the US is the largest contributor to emissions and even then they have the temerity to lecture other countries on how to save the environment.

When the West displays such a sanctimonious attitude towards Africa, it makes countries like China and Russia seem like better partners, defeating its own cause and that of countries like India, which have been working relentlessly to reduce the continent's over-reliance on the Chinese Communist Party.