Recently, the foreign ministers of the United States and China have both made official visits to Africa, a region attracting competition for influence among many powers.
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| Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) and his US counterpart Antony Blinken both made recent trips to Africa. (Source: AP, AFP) |
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently visiting four African nations on the Atlantic coast - Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria and Angola - amid deteriorating security in the Sahel region and growing skepticism about Washington's key base in Niger.
“Our futures are linked, our prosperity is linked and African voices are increasingly shaping, driving and leading global conversations,” he said at his first stop in Cape Verde.
In 2022, US President Joe Biden hosted African leaders to demonstrate Washington's renewed interest in the continent. Secretary of State Blinken quoted then-President Biden as saying: "We're all on the same page when it comes to Africa."
According to the US secretary of state, Washington is "committed to promoting, strengthening and expanding partnerships across Africa".
Previously, Xinhua reported that on January 19, at a press conference, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi declared that Beijing "will always stand side by side with African fraternal countries to support them in defending their independence, sovereignty and national dignity."
The press conference was to inform the media about Mr. Wang Yi's recent visit to four African countries including Egypt, Tunisia, Togo and Cote d'Ivoire.
Emphasizing that Africa has been the annual destination of the first overseas visits of Chinese foreign ministers over the past 34 years, according to Mr. Wang Yi, this proves that Beijing attaches great importance to and firmly supports the development and revival of this continent.
China's top diplomat affirmed that Beijing highly values Africa's friendship and strong trust.
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