BY YOHANES JEMANEH
China has been a multidimensional development partner to African countries. This economic partnership has been cemented through time and now seems to have advanced to peace and security cooperation.
When the First China-Horn of Africa Peace, Good Governance and Development Conference was held in Addis Ababa between 20 and 21 June 2022, Horn of Africa countries pledged to work together with China to maintain peace and security in the region. High-level government officials from Ethiopia, Djibouti Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, and China attended the two-day meeting.
They agreed to peaceful resolution of regional problems, jointly address natural disasters, and uphold a coordinated approach to combat cyber security, terrorism, illegal arms, and human trafficking, among others.
China has pledged to play a constructive role for the peace and development of the Horn of Africa. China’s special envoy for the Horn of Africa Xue Bing said that his country will support horn African nations to build sustainable peace.
“China will continue to support countries in the region to uphold the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, to protect regional peace and security, and silence the guns in the Horn of Africa,” he said.
China wants to support countries in the Horn to address the challenges of security, development, and governance and pursue a path of unity and self-improvement. As an anchor state in the region, China expects Ethiopia to play a constructive role in promoting peace in the Horn of Africa, according to the special envoy.
National Security Adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD), Ambassador Redwan Hussein believed that countries in the Horn need to employ different approaches to solve the challenges of illegal immigration and terrorism, internal displacements, and consequences of war.
“The nexus between peace and security is too obvious to be elaborated here. Making the region free from the burden of war and conflict, and ensuring peace and security, remain the priority of all parties. The people of the region have suffered enough, and it’s incumbent upon us to resort to a civilized, mature way of addressing our difficulties and differences,” Redwan said.
The Horn of Africa is found in a strategic location. Thus, peace and stability in the Horn are essential to peace and development of the entire continent. In recent years, however, regional hotspot issues, including boundary and religious ones, remain complex and make headlines from time to time. On the other hand, external interference makes the situation even more volatile and complicated, only to undermine the interests of the countries and people in the region.
China has expressed its distress to see conflicts raging on and causing misery. African issues should be solved by the African people in the African way, and foreign intervention is by no means conducive to complete resolution of issues. And, as a responsible major country, China upholds international equity and justice and always speaks up for fellow developing countries. For peace and security in the Horn, it has put forward its proposal.
China also proposed idea is for regional countries to independently address the triple challenges of security, development and governance and realize lasting peace, stability and prosperity. Under its Outlook, regional countries will play the lead in regional affairs, and hold their future in their own hands.
Participants have expressed that the conference was crucial to work out ways to overcome security challenges in the volatile region. It was provided a platform for regional countries to sit down together and settle differences through consultation and negotiation. It also opened a pathway that leads to political consensus and concerted actions.
At the wrap-up of the First China-Horn of Africa Peace, Good Governance and Development Conference, the two sides issued a joint statement emphasizing that the HoA is the common home for people in the region and realizing regional peace, stability, development and prosperity serves the fundamental interests of all countries and meets the shared aspirations of all peoples in the region. The participants of the conference also uphold the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security and work together to maintain peace and security in the region and build HoA where the guns are silenced for sustainable peace, according to the joint statement.
The statement reads, “the parties are ready to step up high-level engagements and exchanges at all levels to enhance mutual political trust and keep improving relations among the countries in the region.”
As per the statement, China and the Horn countries have shown the mutual spirit to demonstrate political determination, take confidence-building measures, manage differences and disputes between countries of the region, and pursue peaceful settlement through dialogue and negotiation in an effort to ease the security situation in countries of the region.
It was stated that the HoA countries reaffirmed their respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, commitment to non-interference in the other’s internal affairs, and respect for countries’ independent choice of development path, values and social systems.
“The parties remain committed to peaceful resolution of regional problems independently, and while supporting multilateralism, oppose unilateral sanctions as well as external interference in the internal affairs of the countries of the region,” the joint statement read.
They uphold a coordinated approach to traditional and non-traditional security such as cyber security, terrorism, illegal arms and human trafficking, among others; and commit to greater cooperation in counter-terrorism in the region, and agree to jointly address extreme weather and natural disasters such as drought, flooding and locust infestation and safeguard food security of the region.
Noting that security, development and good governance challenges require a holistic approach, the parties reiterated to sustain regional integration by enhancing connectivity, strengthening cooperation in areas such as agriculture, trade, manufacturing, industry and infrastructure in order to build industrial and economic belts, create more jobs, drive growth and enhance self-driven development capacities.
They further agreed to promote exchanges and experience-sharing on good governance to increase the synergy of the development policies of the countries of the region and explore ways to settle disputes in an effort to foster a development environment for solidarity, stability and harmony.
The countries of the region further commend China for initiating the outlook on the Horn of Africa Peace, Good-governance and Development Conference, and commit to actively participate in implementing the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative.
China reaffirmed its resolve to deepen cooperation in areas such as health, illegal migration, agricultural development for poverty reduction, trade, investment, infrastructure, green development and support efforts for building a development framework featuring “Two Axes plus two Coasts” such as the Addis Ababa-Djibouti and Mombasa-Nairobi development corridors and any other similar projects that enable to achieve regional integration, according to the joint statement.
China and Africa are a community with a shared future. In its cooperation with Africa, China has upheld the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests. Now, under the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa, China will continue to work with regional countries on the three pillars of security, development and governance. And this will inject more impetus to building a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 28 JULY 2022
