The escalation of tensions between China and the United States over Taiwan has not gone unnoticed throughout Africa, prompting reactions that highlight the continent’s lean toward Beijing.
The United States began trade discussions with Taiwan on Thursday, following a visit by a legislative delegation earlier this week, which followed a controversial trip to the self-governing island by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Recent contacts between Washington and Taipei have enraged Beijing, prompting Chinese military drills in the seas surrounding the island.
The majority of African countries have sided with China.
The Eritrean government condemned Pelosi’s visit as a “reckless” continuation of US policies riddled with “flaws and absurdities.”
Following Pelosi’s visit, Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party slammed the US for “aggressive behavior,” with spokesman Chris Mutsvangwa declaring, “It is a cardinal tenet of international diplomacy that there is one China and Taiwan is an integral component of mainland China.”
Meanwhile, the Republic of Congo’s foreign minister firmly supported the one-China policy.
With an article in the China Daily entitled “Africans see through US trick in Pelosi visit,” Chinese state media were quick to trumpet such support from African leaders.
During Pelosi’s visit, Somalia, which has its own troubles with the breakaway territory of Somaliland, was one of the countries that firmly supported China.
The two African outliers that continue to support Taiwan are the unrecognized Somaliland and Eswatini.
Despite unilaterally declaring independence in 1991, the autonomous region of Somaliland in the Horn of Africa is globally recognized as part of Somalia.
