China is ready to support the people of Ethiopia, who found themselves in a difficult situation as a result of the armed clashes in the Tigray region in the north of the country, said Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Qin Gang, during a meeting with his Ethiopian counterpart Demeke Mekonnen on Tuesday.
“China has already provided Ethiopia with a large amount of material humanitarian aid in the form of food and vaccines. We have helped alleviate the life difficulties of the population, which was negatively affected by armed clashes,” China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who is in Ethiopia at the moment, said. “China will continue to act in the same manner.”
Newly appointed Chinese FM Qin, who was China’s ambassador to the United States, noted that the conflict in Tigray is an internal affair of Ethiopia, adding that Beijing “will actively participate in the reconstruction of areas affected by the conflict.”
The minister clarified that Beijing hopes that the international community will increase the scale of humanitarian assistance for Ethiopia and will more actively promote the socio-economic development of the country.
Qin stressed that the Horn of Africa is of great strategic importance, therefore, the security of all of Africa, as well as the Middle East, depends on stability in this region.
On January 9, the Chinese Foreign Minister began a five-nation tour of Africa. After Ethiopia, Qin is scheduled to head to Gabon, Angola, Benin and Egypt. During the one-week trip, which is Qin’s first overseas visit, the minister visited the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa and is also set to visit the headquarters of the League of Arab States when he arrives in Cairo.
Qin’s visit to Africa this week marks the 33rd consecutive year that Africa has become the destination of Chinese foreign ministers’ first overseas visit of the year, according to the PRC foreign ministry.
On November 2, 2022, the African Union facilitated a peace deal between Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), putting an end to nearly two years of fighting in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray, where thousands of people were killed and millions of others displaced.
The peace agreement eased the way for humanitarian aid, access to which was previously restricted, and the gradual return of public services, including banking, communications, electricity and fuel.
Earlier, the Tigray rebel forces in the town of Agulae, around 30 kilometers northeast of the regional capital Mekelle, begun handing over their heavy weaponry to Ethiopia’s national army as part of the November peace deal.