China welcomes dozens of African states to security conference as it seeks greater role in continent

China is hosting defence officials from nearly 50 African countries at a security conference as Beijing seeks to expand its presence and shore up ties with the continent amid its rivalry with the United States.

According to the Chinese defence ministry, the third China-Africa Peace and Security Forum, will focus on President Xi Jinping’s Global Security Initiative (GSI), which sets out Beijing’s policy principles for managing conflicts and keeping the world at peace.

The forum, which runs until Saturday, will be attended by security officials from the African Union and most of its member states, the ministry said.

Much of China’s security engagement with African nations involves peacekeeping, counterterrorism, anti-piracy, humanitarian aid and military education.

Under its stated non-interference policy, Beijing has refrained from getting its troops directly involved in local conflicts.

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“To me it is logical and expected that China will test its GSI first in Africa, where its main contingents of peacekeepers are, including combat forces, until recently in Mali and still in South Sudan,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, an emeritus professor who focuses on China-African ties at Baptist University in Hong Kong.

He said some countries were not satisfied with France’s role fighting terrorism in two former colonies, Mali and Burkina Faso, adding: “China is grasping the occasion to propose another type of military and security assistance: not mercenaries but training and weapons, security devices and security through development.”

China also has an interest in African security given its extensive investments in the continent and the large number of Chinese companies and workers working on infrastructure and other projects, some of whom have been killed or kidnapped by insurgents.

Over the past three years there has been a series of coups in the Sahel, the region directly to the south of the Sahara, which has resulted in the overthrow of governments in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Sudan and, most recently, in Niger.

Beijing has also framed its security cooperation with Africa as an alternative to the US presence in the continent, and has made veiled criticisms of Western sanctions imposed on African officials over human rights violations and corruption.

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Cabestan said the coup had embarrassed Beijing, which saw Bazoum as a friend, but it would not support any military intervention, including one from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).

Ecowas has threatened military action after the Nigerien junta ignored a deadline to restore Bazoum’s government earlier this month.

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Cabestan said: “So, China is pushing for a diplomatic solution while reaching out to Nigerien military authorities to guarantee the security of its nationals and interests in this country, which remains its priority.”

The China-Africa Peace and Security Forum, which has previously met in 2019 and last year, is one of the many security conferences held under the GSI, which aims to give Beijing a bigger role in global governance and give a louder voice to the so-called Global South.

South China Morning Post