China’s Wang Yi cites ‘severe risks’ after Somalia dropped from Africa itinerary

Authorities in Mogadishu had cleared the roads for a historic visit, yet on Friday Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi travelled to Tanzania instead of Somalia as planned.

It would have been the first high-level Chinese mission to Mogadishu in four decades. The last-minute decision not to include the capital on Wang’s itinerary came as Somalia seeks shows of diplomatic support after Israel recognised the breakaway region of Somaliland last month.

A source at the presidential palace told local media the visit was postponed “due to technical issues”.

At a regular Chinese foreign ministry press briefing on Monday afternoon, a spokesperson said Wang had “made adjustments to his itinerary regarding the relevant visit after friendly consultations between the foreign affairs authorities of China and Somalia”.

In a subsequent video call from Wang to his staff in Mogadishu on Sunday, he said the Chinese mission faced the “most complex security situation” and the “most challenging working and living conditions”, according to a foreign ministry readout.

Wang acknowledged that embassy staff lived year-round in “container houses” where they endured high temperatures and supply shortages while facing “complex and severe risks of terrorism” every day.

Recalling the 2015 terrorist attack that resulted in embassy staff being killed or injured, he emphasised that the well-being of those stationed in such “harsh and war-torn regions” remained a priority for the Central Committee of China’s ruling Communist Party.

During a telephone conversation with Somali Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali on the same day, Wang noted that the bilateral strategic partnership would not “be affected by temporary events”.

He reiterated Beijing’s support for Somalia’s territorial integrity and stated China’s opposition to Somaliland’s “collusion” with the Taiwan authorities.

Wang said Beijing would “always support Somalia in safeguarding its sovereignty and a new consensus was reached”, according to the foreign ministry.

Guled Ahmed, a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute, said the decision to bypass Mogadishu reflected “a calculated assessment of political, security and reputational risk at a time of regional geopolitical tension, not a logistical issue”.

He said the planned visit coincided with heightened scrutiny, including United States probes, over the alleged diversion of World Food Programme aid at the city’s port.

“For Beijing – having just announced additional drought-relief assistance – any high-level visit risked being overshadowed by governance failures and questions surrounding aid accountability,” he said.

Furthermore, he referred to al-Qaeda-linked jihadists in noting that “persistent al-Shabab threat exposure continues to signal fragility rather than consolidation of state control”.

For China, which prioritises predictability, Ahmed said that elevated security risk alone was sufficient to defer symbolic engagement.

According to Cameron Hudson, a former US official and senior fellow with the Africa Programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington: “It is obviously worse to cancel a trip to Somalia than never to have scheduled it at all.”

Hudson noted that while Somalia was likely to view the cancellation as a missed opportunity for Beijing to affirm its sovereignty, China remained a steadfast supporter of Somalia’s territorial integrity, and “this move doesn’t change that”.

“The value of this visit was in its symbolism. Somalia is only affected in the long term if China and other backers of Mogadishu truly begin to lose confidence in the government’s ability to manage the many threats it faces,” Hudson said.

Instead, Wang flew to Tanzania, a key diplomatic ally, on Friday.

During his meeting on Saturday with President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the focus shifted to “mutual assistance and mutual achievement”. The trip served as an endorsement following the country’s election in October, in which Hassan won 97 per cent of the vote.

Wang said China “opposes any external force interfering in Tanzania’s internal affairs” and supports the “constitutional order”. A joint statement added that Beijing had “full confidence in Tanzania’s leadership and institutions to manage internal affairs independently”.

But the visit’s centrepiece was the activation of the US$1.4 billion Tazara Prosperity Belt. Managed by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation under a 30-year concession, the project aims to transform the 1,860km (1,156-mile) railway into a regional development engine linking the Indian Ocean to the Copperbelt.

By modernising the track and rolling stock, the nations aim to connect railways, ports and other infrastructure as a model for the Belt and Road Initiative.

It positions Tanzania as a competitor to the Western-backed Lobito Corridor, ensuring critical copper and cobalt exports remain anchored in Chinese-built infrastructure.

“We must work together to develop agriculture, manufacturing and mining along the line, creating a prosperity belt and economic development corridor,” Wang said.

Hassan noted that Tanzania was eager to align its development plans with China, aiming to double exports to the Chinese market by 2030. She described China as a long-standing partner, noting that the Chama Cha Mapinduzi, Tanzania’s ruling party, and the Communist Party of China shared a fraternal friendship.

Zhou Yuyuan, deputy director of the Institute for Foreign Policy Studies and director of the Centre for West Asian and African Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said Tanzania’s long-standing relationship with China spanned party and military lines and had a “special position in the formulation of China’s policy towards Africa”.

Zhou described Tanzania as a model for high-quality cooperation under the belt and road programme, and said the Tazara railway revitalisation project held “significant symbolic meaning” for China-Africa cooperation. He said the project was an opportunity “to explore how China and Tanzania can deepen their comprehensive strategic partnership”.

In the final leg of his tour, Wang met Lesotho Prime Minister Sam Matekane in Maseru where China’s foreign minister emphasised that Chinese diplomacy adhered to “the principle of equality among all countries”, and pledged zero-tariff measures to provide “new impetus” for Lesotho’s development, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

This visit is timely for Lesotho. The country is vulnerable to protectionist trade policies affecting its textile industry, which relies on Western market access through schemes such as the Bill Clinton-era African Growth and Opportunity Act.

Wang said China would aid the export of Lesotho’s speciality products and continue to contribute to the nation’s development, according to the ministry.

Analyst Zhou said that, compared with the effects of US tariffs, strengthening cooperation with Lesotho would enhance China’s moral image in Africa.

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