Emmanuel Macron looks to push back Chinese influence in Africa
President visits French military base in Djibouti as Beijing grows economic and military presence in the Horn of Africa country
Djibouti — French President Emmanuel Macron visited the country’s oldest and biggest foreign military base on Tuesday as he looks to push back against China’s increasing influence in Africa. He will meet troops at a French military base in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa less than two weeks before he welcomes China President Xi Jinping to Paris for a state visit. Macron picked the former trading outpost with access to the Indian Ocean to signal his resistance to the global reach of China’s ambitions. His three-day tour will also take in Ethiopia and Kenya, where China is investing hugely. “Macron’s message is double,” said Mathieu Duchatel, head of Asian studies at the Institut Montaigne in Paris. “He is explicitly pushing forward the Indo-Pacific strategy along with the US and others to respond to the military emergence of China. And he’s going there to respond to the huge infrastructure push China is making with the Belt and Road initiative.” The transatlantic alliance might be goi...
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