The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made leadership changes in its African policy team. Dai Bing, who was the Director-General of the African Affairs Department (a role comparable to that of the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs) is now in New York where he’s China’s #2 at the United Nations. Dai was replaced by Wu Peng, the former ambassador to Kenya.
During his tenure as the Chinese envoy to Nairobi, Wu was regarded as more progressive than many of his other more conservative peers. Wu famously met with environmental activists who opposed the Chinese-funded coal power plant on Lamu Island and he also did unscripted interviews with international media outlets like the BBC (rare in Chinese diplomacy).
The Director-General for African Affairs in the Chinese Foreign Ministry oversees policy just for sub-Saharan Africa and not Arabic-speaking North African countries, which fall under the Arab Affairs portfolio.
