Nearly 200 individuals gathered at the heart of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, to show their support towards China and Russia.

The demonstration began in the early hours of the morning and ended at midday at the foot of a monument honoring the country’s military and its Russian allies.

The demonstrators waved Russian flags and banners proclaiming in particular Support for Chinaor Russia is Wagner, we love Russia and we love Wagner and laid a wreath in front of the Chinese Embassy. On Sunday, 9 Chinese nationals were killed in an attack on a mining site in the center of the country. A commission of inquiry was opened while Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “severely punish” the guilty. “We are here to share the pain of the Chinese population, which is an essential construction partner in the Central African Republic. “, told AFP Saint-Clair Banga-Bangui, deputy secretary of the Republican Front.

Bangui accuses the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), an alliance of rebel groups created in December 2020 to overthrow President Faustin Archange Touadéra, of being behind the attack. The rebel alliance rejected the accusations, pointing to the Russian mercenaries (from the paramilitary organization) Wagner with the complicity of the government. At the end of the rally, several dozen demonstrators were paid 15,000 CFA francs (23 euros) by the Republican Front for their participation, noted an AFP journalist.

The Central African Republic, the second least developed country in the world according to the UN, has been the scene of a civil war since 2013, very deadly in its first years but which has decreased in intensity since 2018. At the end of 2020, the most powerful of the many armed groups which then shared two-thirds of the territory had launched an offensive on Bangui and Faustin Archange Touadéra had called on Moscow to the rescue of its impoverished army. Hundreds of Russian paramilitaries had then joined the few hundred already present since 2018, making it possible to repel the rebels’ offensive and then to drive them back from a large part of the territories and cities they controlled, but without being able to resettle everywhere and permanently. the presence and authority of the Central African state.

The reasons behind the demonstration are yet to be confirmed, and no statement has been issued by the Central African Republic’s government.

The reasons behind the demonstration are yet to be confirmed, and no statement has been issued by the Central African Republic’s government.

This peaceful protest marks an important moment for the relations between Africa, China, and Russia.

The strong ties between these nations have been a subject of interest, and further events such as this one will only reinforce their significance in the global political arena.

 

 

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Piers Potter

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