Wang Yi Works the Phones With African Foreign Ministers

FILE PHOTO. Chinese counterpart Wang Yi is pictured during a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital Cairo, on January 9, 2020. Mohamed el-Shahed / AFP

In another sign that Beijing is paying more attention to COVID-19 in Africa, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi appears to be increasing the frequency of his outreach to his African counterparts. This week alone he held two phone conferences with ministers from Angola and Ethiopia. 

Neither of these calls produced any substantive announcements. Instead, they may be intended  to buttress China’s state-to-state ties in Africa given the considerable pushback Beijing has encountered from African civil society in the aftermath of the recent events in Guangzhou.

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by Eric Olander

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