Beijing Pressures 2 African Countries to Quit International Group Critical of China

Beijing’s coercion ‘raises serious concerns over the extent of Chinese interference in the political autonomy of sovereign democratic nations,’ IPAC says.

Artisanal sand miners shovel sand into trucks in an area destroyed by sand mining on the outskirts of Gunjur in The Gambia on Dec. 7, 2021. John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images

China has pressured two African countries to leave the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a group of hundreds of lawmakers who focus on confronting the communist regime’s malign activities, the organization said.

The IPAC said Beijing used “extreme diplomatic coercion” to force lawmakers from Malawi and The Gambia to quit their group memberships. Beijing’s coercion included the threat of canceling a Malawian president’s trip to China for a regional summit and meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping.

“Beijing’s coercion and political interference has sunk to new depths, with Chinese diplomats now seeking to dictate what foreign lawmakers can and cannot do, and with whom they can associate,” the alliance said in a statement posted on the social media platform X on April 9.

IPAC said the departure of the two African nations from the organization “raises serious concerns over the extent of Chinese interference in the political autonomy of sovereign democratic nations.”

“That the People[’s] Republic of China has seen fit to bring the weight of its diplomatic apparatus down upon a non-governmental body, targeting members from African nations where China enjoys significant economic leverage, reflects a bullying and controlling posture that we should not hesitate to condemn.”

The incident shows the Chinese regime’s growing influence in Africa, as many countries, including Malawi and The Gambia, have signed up to Beijing’s infrastructure platform known as the Belt and Road Initiative, also known as “One Belt, One Road.”

The Policy Center for the New South reported in 2023 that China had controlled about 12 percent of Africa’s industrial output, or roughly $500 billion, annually.

The IPAC pointed out that African lawmakers “are increasingly concerned about Beijing’s activity in the continent.”

“We call upon our governments to make clear their opposition to Beijing’s interference in Malawi and The Gambia and to reiterate their commitment to defending the rights of freely elected lawmakers across the world,” the group said.

Withdrawal

Malawi and The Gambia joined the IPAC in July last year, along with Colombia, Iraq, Solomon Islands, and Uruguay. At the time, the IPAC named two Gambian lawmakers, Abdoulie Ceesay and Amadou Camara, and two Malawian lawmakers, Ackson Kalaile Banda and Ephraim Kayembe, as new members of the organization.

In November last year, Ceesay was one of many IPAC members who signed on to a joint statement criticizing the Hong Kong government’s decision to sentence 45 pro-democracy figures in the city as a “travesty of justice.”

In January, Ceesay sent a voice recording to the IPAC, informing the alliance that the Chinese regime had complained to the Gambian foreign ministry about his membership.

“We have very shocking news … it’s a problem right now,” Ceesay said in the recording, which IPAC provided to The Associated Press (AP). “The president is not happy with us at all.”

Later in the same month, Ceesay and Camara informed the IPAC that they were withdrawing. Ceesay told the alliance in a written statement that his decision was “not influenced by the Chinese embassy,” a stance he reiterated when contacted by AP.

The Gambia’s information minister, Ismaila Ceesay, who is not related to Abdoulie Ceesay, said he was not aware of any efforts by China to sway the politicians in his country.

“They decided on their own behalf to opt out of IPAC after realizing it goes against the government’s bilateral (relationship) with China,” the information minister said.

The IPAC held its first-ever summit in Taiwan in July last year. Less than two weeks later, the two Malawian lawmakers said they were withdrawing from the organization.

In a letter dated Aug. 7 last year to the IPAC, Kayembe said he had been tricked into joining the group.

“I want to extend my sincere apology to the People’s Republic of China,” Kayembe wrote in the letter.

When contacted by AP via email, Kayembe denied that his withdrawal from the IPAC resulted from coercion by the Malawi government or the Chinese regime. Instead, he said his decision was his perception that the IPAC appeared “aimed at achieving geopolitical intentions against China.”

Two IPAC cochairs have spoken out against the CCP.

“This is unacceptable pressure. It tells you all you need to know about the CCP,” Miriam Lexmann, a Slovak member of the European Parliament, wrote on the social media platform X on April 9, in response to the IPAC statement on Malawi and The Gambia.

Zimbabwean lawmaker Daniel Molokele said in a short video shared by the IPAC that Beijing’s approach toward Africa and African parliaments “borders at the level of intimidation and bully tactics.”

“It’s something that we need to unite, to engage against, and make sure that we do not continue to see African countries, governments, parliamentarians, being forced to take positions by China,” Molokele added.

A U.S. congressional hearing focusing on the Chinese regime’s exploitation of minerals in Africa was held in March, with an expert saying that Beijing has taken advantage of political and social chaos on the continent.

On April 10, the IPAC announced that two new countries, Fiji and Panama, have joined the group.

It also announced that U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, has taken up an IPAC cochair position vacated by Marco Rubio after the former Florida senator became the U.S. secretary of state.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is the other IPAC cochair from the United States.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.