China calls on the International Community to Support West Africa

China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Dai Bing, on Thursday, 11th January, said that the political situation of some West African countries “remain volatile with growing social tensions internally”. He said this while speaking to the UN Security Council.

He further said, “China supports regional countries in resolving their internal differences through political dialogue, so as to create conditions for peace and reconciliation,”. “It is important to bring confidence and hope to the people by improving governance and strengthening state authority.”

Citing China’s interventions in the region, he called on the international community to support regional countries in choosing their path of development independently in line with their own national conditions and cultural values.

According to him, imposing governance models from the outside and demanding engagement in “democratic transformation” has not worked in addressing the root causes of unrest. In some instances, it has even led to the beginning of new chaos.

Dai also asked the international community to remember past lessons and adopt a “more pragmatic and effective approach” in supporting the countries of the region in upgrading their counter-terrorism capacities and forming a much more cohesive regional counter-terrorism cooperation.

The international community should provide financial and technical support to the countries of the region in terms of infrastructure development, employment, and income generation to help improve the livelihood of the people and foster economic growth in the region, he said.

“Extremist and terrorist activities remain rampant while counter-terrorism cooperation in the Sahel region finds itself in a difficult situation at the moment. In the face of the common challenges, the countries in the region should uphold the vision of common security, close ranks in counter-terrorism cooperation, unite every country, and fortify every chain along the counter-terrorism front,” he said.

Countries in West Africa and the Sahel have been forced to be at the forefront of international counter-terrorism efforts in the last few years due to the migration of some terrorist cells to the region.

The terrorism situation is compounded by multiple challenges, such as economic slowdown, high inflation, food insecurity, and humanitarian crises. These problems are severe in some of these countries, and their negative impact on the political and security situation must not be ignored.

“Through bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms, China has been providing support to countries in the region to enhance capacity-building and promote inclusive and sustainable development, which will help gradually build the foundation for lasting peace and stability”, said Dai.

Next week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will travel to the region. He would visit Togo and Cote d’Ivoire. The trip is a continuation of  China’s tradition over the past 34 years, in which China’s foreign ministers’ first visit abroad in the new year will be to Africa.

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