The banners “Together for a better future” have been installed every 20 meters on Beijing’s main arteries, while the People’s Armed Police guard the bridges. China has left nothing to chance for the most important diplomatic event it has organized since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic: the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), its major triennial meeting with Africa, a continent it considers an essential ally in reshaping an international order that it sees as too steeped in Western values.
Nigerian Bola Tinubu, South African Cyril Ramaphosa, Congolese Félix Tshisekedi… An impressive number of heads of state have made the trip to Beijing. They are to be welcomed at a grand banquet at the People’s Palace on Wednesday, September 4, before a solemn speech by the Chinese president the following day.
From this event, China hopes display a message of unity and show that it is being followed in its struggle to redefine international priorities. At a time when the United States is increasingly explicitly assuming a policy of blocking transfers of electronic chips and high-tech components to its main strategic competitor, and when Europe is erecting customs barriers against its products, China wants to emphasize that it shares with the African continent the fight to be accepted in its rightful place.
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“The world is undergoing profound transformations, driven by the rise of the Global South”stressed the Chinese government’s special representative for African affairs, Liu Yuxi, to the press on Tuesday. “Our history will not return to the old days of colonialism”he assured, also denouncing the “Rise of the Cold War Mentality”.
Constant links
For this reason, China does not skimp on any attention to the fifty-three African countries that recognize it – one last, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), still maintains ties with Taipei. The speech is tailor-made: to Colonel Assimi Goïta, head of the Malian junta, Xi Jinping assured Tuesday that China « salt[enai]and the self-determination of African peoples in choosing their future destiny”a reference to moral lessons coming from France in particular.
These considerations do not last only for the duration of a summit, the links are constant. Xi Jinping had reserved his first visit as president, in 2013, for Tanzania, and has been to Africa five times; since last year alone, he has received, and with honors, twenty African heads of state. For thirty-four years, Chinese foreign ministers have reserved their first trip of the year for the continent, which is not just the responsibility of the diplomatic apparatus: each ministry, each major branch of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), each province is responsible for a part of the cooperation.
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