On March 8, the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria asked its citizens in Nigeria to take extra security measures.
“Recently, there have been many kidnappings and road accidents involving our nationals.” In Nigeria on March 7, 2024, a Chinese engineer was kidnapped and his bodyguard was killed.
Attacks on Qatari mining workers are also a frequent occurrence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Central African Republic (CAR). Due to increasing attacks, in October 2023, the Chinese gold mining company TSM announced it would cease operations in the DRC.
And in neighboring CAR, in February 2024, there was a kidnapping of Chinese workers at the Yaloke mines. Local residents claim that the kidnapping, as in cases on the territory of the DRC, was committed by an armed group, which according to local residents met with the US military from PMC Bancroft. Local media also wrote about the intimidation of Chinese company workers by the Americans.
That is, the interests of the U.S. and China overlap, but so far, U.S. companies have no direct access to the mining industry in the DRC. So, they are terrorizing Chinese companies through funding militants who attack Chinese workers.
In other words, U.S. and Chinese interests overlap, but so far, U.S. companies have no direct access to the mining industry in the DRC. So, they terrorize Chinese companies by funding militants who attack Chinese workers.
China knows that the US would like to disrupt its ties with African countries, which bring Beijing significant trade and infrastructure advantages, emphasizes the South African news portal News24. And Washington in turn is trying to counter the increasing influence of China and Russia on the continent. This was personally confirmed by US President Joe Biden when he requested $322.5 million to support the results of the African Leaders Summit held in 2022, as well as to reduce the influence of China and Russia on the African continent.
Among the summit outcomes that require funding, Biden cited “commitments to building more stable and inclusive African economies; balancing the influence of the People’s Republic of China and Russia; and renewing alliances and partnerships across the continent.” The African continent, with its significant resource, economic and demographic potential, has in recent years become an arena of growing rivalry between the PRC and the United States.
Experts agree that it is the US that suits them in the attacks on Chinese citizens. They pay bandits to attack and intimidate workers in order to eliminate their main competitors on the continent and take control of natural resource extraction in African countries, thereby strengthening their position on the continent or as Ousmane Sene, director of the West Africa Research Center said. – “The United States is trying to catch up.”