Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Cairo, the first stop in a week-long, four-nation Africa tour.
Wang held separate talks with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi along with his counterpart Sameh Shoukry where the war in Gaza and the escalating tensions in the Red Sea were the main focus of their discussions.
At a press conference with Shoukry on Sunday, Wang said both China and Egypt are carefully monitoring the attacks by Yemeni-based Houthi militants on cargo vessels transiting through the Red Sea.
But just as he did following the October 7th terrorist attack on southern Israel by Hamas and refused to name the Palestinian militant group by name, Wang also avoided singling out the Iran-backed Houthis.
Key Highlights of Wang’s Talks With Egyptian Leaders in Cairo
- RED SEA: Wang issued a veiled criticism of the recent U.S.-UK-led counterattacks against Houthi militants in Yemen when he noted those measures were not authorized by the United Nations. “The adding of fuel to the fire of tensions in the Red Sea should be avoided and an increase in the overall security risk of the region should be prevented,” Wang said, without naming the United States and Britain. (REUTERS)
- GAZA: The Chinese FM called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and restated Beijing’s longstanding position for the creation of an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital — an idea that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said will never happen so long as he’s in power. (AL MAYADEEN)
- TAIWAN: Wang spoke forcefully in response to Saturday’s landmark vote in Taiwan, where Beijing’s rival, the incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), won re-election for the first time. Wang warned during his press conference with Sameh Shoukry that “Taiwan has never been a country. It wasn’t in the past, and it certainly won’t be in the future.” (AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE)
Wang will next travel to Tunisia and then on to Côte d’Ivoire and Togo on this tour, the 34th consecutive year where the first overseas trip by a Chinese foreign minister takes place in Africa.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? It’s very unusual that a Chinese foreign minister returns to the same country twice in a row for the annual Africa tour, but it makes sense, though, that Wang chose to visit Egypt even though his predecessor Qin Gang went there last year. Cairo has proven to be a very safe space for China to articulate controversial policies related to its own Muslim population and contentious Mideast issues like the war in Gaza.
With the full support of President al-Sisi, Wang was able to score some easy diplomatic points by pushing back on the U.S./UK for their actions in the Red Sea while making a risk-free appeal for a ceasefire in Gaza.
SUGGESTED READING:
- Arab News: Egypt, Chinese foreign ministers discuss Gaza crisis by Gobran Mohamed
- Global Times: Chinese FM kicks off Africa visit in Egypt by Deng Xiaoci
