To sustain the world’s second largest economy and the legitimacy of the Communist Party, Beijing has instituted the "going out" policy, investing its plentiful foreign reserves overseas to engender good will and at the same time secure raw materials for its burgeoning economy, especially in Africa. It is also executing an impressive array of infrastructure projects, and the assistance is unaccompanied by Western-style lecturing and other strangling conditions. Washington should respond with simple stability enhancing projects. Moreover, it should seek partnership opportunities with China, leveraging its own soft power base. U.S. Africa Command initiatives with African militaries have been effective, and Washington can take other pragmatic steps to earn African trust, strengthen Sino-American bonds, and press for good governance and human rights.