China pledged to deepen cooperation and exchanges with Tanzania on Friday as its top diplomat toured the region, promising that Beijing would “always stand together” with Africa.
Wang Yi also called on Tanzania to work with China to uphold international law and multilateralism, in what one observer said would be the Chinese foreign minister’s key message to Africa amid Washington’s apparent retreat from the rules-based international system.
Wang will wrap up his six-day tour of the continent on Monday. His trip featured stops in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Lesotho. He initially planned to visit Somalia – in what would have been the first visit by a Chinese foreign minister since the 1980s – but the trip was postponed on Friday. China’s embassy in Somalia cited “scheduling conflicts” as the reason for the change in itinerary.
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Continuing a 36-year tradition, the Chinese foreign minister chose Africa for his first overseas destination of the year. The ministry earlier touted China-Africa ties as having “grown by leaps and bounds”.
On Friday, Wang held talks with his Tanzanian counterpart, Mahmoud Thabit Kombo, in Dar es Salaam, describing ties between the two countries as “built through the trials and tribulations of several generations”.
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According to a Chinese foreign ministry statement, Wang said Beijing cherished the friendship and was willing to work with the new Tanzanian government to “maintain a high level of mutual trust, firmly support each other, [and] deepen exchanges and cooperation”.
