Opinion | China is making inroads into the Horn of Africa

By Augustus K. Yeung

INTRODUCTION

Africa, the "Dark Continent" is believed to be the poorest part of the Earth, where children are suffering from famine, hunger and dying of diseases, metaphorically known as a safari infested with weeds of sadness.

Given this context, why is China making inroads into the Horn of Africa? What has brought Wang Yi, China's foreign minister to Eritrea? And why would the United States sanction Eritrea? What would American sanctions do to Eritrea? Will it help, hurt or aggravate situation in this war-torn country?

For insights into these questions, it is better that the readers get to read and understand the Horn of Africa for themselves.

Why is China wading into America's waning sphere of influence?

Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticized the sanctions imposed on Eritrea as he announced further moves to deepen Beijing's cooperation with the Horn of Africa nation.

Speaking after a meeting with Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki on Wednesday (in January 2022), Wang condemned the US and some European countries for imposing sanctions over the involvement in the Ethiopian conflict. Wang also pledged financial support for Eritrea, a recent recruit to China's infrastructure investment strategy the Belt and Road Initiative.

A joint statement by Wang and his counterpart Osman Saleh said both sides "oppose hegemonic interference in the internal affairs of other countries under the pretext of democracy and human rights". It added: "The Chinese side stands against any unilateral sanctions on Eritrea. The Eritrean side reaffirms adherence to the one-China principle."

The US in November imposed sanctions on the Eritrean military, whose soldiers fought in the Tigray region alongside Ethiopian forces against the Tigray People's Liberation Front rebel group.

While meeting Isaias in Asmara, the capital, Wang announced that China would provide 100 million yuan (HK$122.6 million) as additional support for Eritrea as it welcomed China to invest in its mining, infrastructure and the Massawa and Assab port developments.

With a three-nation African tour that includes Kenya and the Comoros, Wang is keeping up a Chinese tradition since 1991 by making the continent the foreign minister's first overseas visit of the year. It is Wang's second trip to the continent in just over a month, after he co-chaired the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Senegal in late November.

Wang also conveyed a message from President Xi Jinping to Eritrean counterpart Isais, inviting him to visit China for extensive talks on their strategic partnership, Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Meskel said.

What benefits does Eritrea get from partnering with China, a rising power?

The African nation has for years been cut off from the rest of the world. But it has a key asset: its access to the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and Europe, making it extremely important to the belt and road.

Observers have said that China is likely to use Eritrea to expand its Maritime Silk Road as part of the belt and road. It is estimated that 10 per cent of global trade passes through the coastal waterway of the Red Sea.

In November, Eritrea became the latest African nation to join the belt and road, a multibillion-dollar initiative that has helped build infrastructure megaprojects across Africa, including ports, power dams, railways and roads.

John Calabrese, head of the Middle East-Asia Project at American University in Washington University, said: "Eritrea has access to the sea. Maritime access is key to the belt and road's success in that part of the world."

China is making inroads into the Horn of Africa and has invested heavily in Djibouti's maritime sector via the country's ports and free-trade zones. It has also built its first overseas military base there, near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

Beijing has deepened its footprint in Ethiopia, especially in funding construction of the Addis Abba-Djibouti railway, but the Tigray war has threatened its investments.

Besides increasing its investments in Eritrea, whose army has been accused of involvement in the war, Beijing is seeking its government's help to end the conflict. Thousands have been killed and more than 2 million displaced in a war that has lasted for more than a year.

Calabrese said that finding ways to end the war was one of the objectives of Wang's trip. "After all, Beijing has poured a lot of time, effort and money into Ethiopia in recent years, which the ongoing conflict places at risk," he said.

After his stop in Kenya, and Comoros, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, Wang will visit the Maldives and Sri Lanka. (Source: SCMP)

CONCLUSION

Eritrea is the latest African country with which China has established a business partnership, but China's first friendship was built with Tanzania; China built the impossible railway even as early as the Mao Zedong era, and Chinese friendships with other African countries have slowly morphed since then. Consequently, with their support, China secured a seat in the United Nations and became one of the five permanent UN security council members.

Since then, China has been building trust with Africa; both experienced traumatic tyranny, exploitation, and occupation by Western powers. Today, China-African friendship has broadened and deepened; naturally, it is the place for China to start connecting the Dark Continent by putting it on the Belt and Road Initiative to bring it peace and economic prosperity, despite risking rivalry with the hegemonic U.S.

In due course, the United States with its scholars' insights will come to understand what China has been doing and why it is doing what it does.

John Calabrese is right to have observed that China is making inroads into the Horn of Africa and has invested heavily there, including Djibouti's maritime sector via the country's ports and free-trade zones. China has also built its first overseas military base there, near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

Finding peaceful ways to end the war remains one of China's objectives.

 

The author is a freelance writer; formerly Adjunct Lecturer, taught MBA Philosophy of Management, and International Strategy, and online columnist of 3-D Corner (HKU SPACE), University of Hong Kong.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

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