China condemns Japan for sowing discord between China, Africa

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday that Japan wanted to sell its own intentions to African countries and had attempted to sow discord between China and Africa.

Spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a daily news briefing that the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Sunday, should be a multilateral platform for exchanges and cooperation with the aim of supporting African development.

However, Japan tried to derail the summit agenda by discussing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reform and maritime security issues, which caused discontent among the representatives of African countries, she said.

African countries firmly opposed the politicizing of the TICAD and discussing Asian problems in Africa, and they firmly opposed Japan's intention of imposing its own will on Africa, the spokesperson added.

Hua said the summit declaration showed that Japan finally had to accept the views of African countries, focus on maritime security cooperation in Africa, and follow the principles on the UNSC reform reached at the 2015 TICAD summit in Yokohama.

Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported that the summit's declaration was made against the backdrop of tensions in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. Such reports did not reflect the truth of the conference in an objective way, and did not respect African countries, Hua said. Endi