China’s special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Xue Bing, conducted a new trip to the region shortly after he attended the Addis Ababa Peace Summit last June. The trip this time covered Eritrea, Djibouti and Sudan, with the intention of promoting what he described as “the Chinese way to peace.”
On September 16, Xue Bing visited Eritrea, where he met with President Isaias Afwerki, reiterating China’s readiness to contribute to regional peace initiatives by supporting sustainable partnerships and insisting on economic development as a strategy for the pursuit of stability (https://shabait.com/2022/09/17/president-isaias-met-and-held-talks-with-chinas-special-envoy-2/).
The Chinese press placed particular emphasis on the trip, pointing out how Eritrea is at a pivotal point in China’s own Belt and Road Initiative development project, and, referring to the Horn of Africa region more generally, how it has the potential to become an important collector of economic investment aimed at infrastructure development (https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3193667/chinese-envoy-opposes-foreign-intervention-horn-africa-return).
According to reports in Africa Intelligence magazine, however, France has reportedly tried to get the conflict in Ethiopia placed on the agenda of the UN Security Council under its chairmanship, but this request was reportedly opposed by China and Russia, which, with the support other African nations have reportedly succeeded in keeping the topic off the discussion agenda (https://www.africaintelligence.com/eastern-africa-and-the-horn/2022/09/29/imbroglio-over-tigray-at-un-security-council,109828876-art).
