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In mainstream media, online and in meetings with senior officials, Chinese diplomats are campaigning to rally opposition against US trade policies under US President Donald Trump. In the messaging, Beijing is framing Trump’s tariffs as a threat to developing economies and urges Global South nations to unite against Washington.
John Calabrese, a US foreign policy expert at American University and the Middle East Institute, both in Washington, said the former Biden administration’s handling of the Gaza war had given China an opportunity to distinguish itself as a “different kind of global power”.
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How China is reshaping its economic ties with Africa
How China is reshaping its economic ties with Africa
Trump’s “America first” agenda – marked by trade tariffs, aid cuts and reduced military engagement – further damaged US credibility in Africa, creating more space for China to expand its influence, he said.
Similarly, Seifudein Adem, a global affairs specialist and research fellow at the JICA Ogata Research Institute for Peace and Development in Tokyo, said studies showed “China is viewed more positively in Africa than in any other continent”.
“As a result of the tariff war, Africa and China are likely to become even closer,” he said.
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In talks with his South African, Ethiopian and Nigerian counterparts, Wang promised that China was “ready to share the opportunities of modernisation with African brothers and sisters”.
