KINSHASA – The rivalry between the US and China once again manifested in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with each side expressing a different stance on the country’s presidential election results.
China on Wednesday congratulated DRC President Félix Tshisekedi on his reelection, which was upheld by the constitutional court on Tuesday.
President Tshisekedi won in the contentious election with 73.47 percent of votes for a second term, beating main challenger and runner-up candidate Moise Katumbi and 2018’s Martin Fayulu. They rejected the election, termed it flawed and called for national wide protests.
Out of the 18 opposition candidates, only Theodore Ngoyi and one citizen petitioned, with Katumbi and Fayulu saying they didn’t have trust in the electoral commission and the courts.
But with the declaration by the constitutional court, China Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning on Wednesday said Beijing respects the choice made by the people in the DRC. China maintains an non-interference policy in domestic affairs.
“We believe that under the leadership of President Tshisekedi, the DRC is headed toward greater achievement in national development and revitalization,” Mao said during the Regular Press Conference in Beijing.
She added that China and the DRC are comprehensive strategic cooperative partners, and it highly values its relations with the DRC and stands ready to work with Kinshasa to “carry forward our traditional friendship and deepen exchanges and cooperation in Belt and Road cooperation and under the FOCAC framework to deliver more benefits for the two peoples”.
And while the US State Department is yet to issue a statement following the court decision, senior voices from the Legislature have termed the election as flawed and drawn China into it.
US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Sen Jim Risch (R-Idaho) on Wednesday, January 3 termed the election flawed, adding that it must trigger a reset of US policy to prioritize the Congolese people.
“Biden Administrations past strategy of being all-in on the Tshisekedi government doesn’t serve US interests to counter China and risks democracy, anti-corruption efforts and security in the DRC,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.
Following the release of the provincial results by CENI, the electoral agency, on December 31, 2023, the State Department on January 1 said it was aware that several candidates had rejected the results and encouraged them to seek legal redress.
” … we reiterate that the only means to challenge results and demand accountability should be through the legal system and peaceful civic engagement. Recourse to violent confrontation will neither resolve grievances nor advance democracy in the DRC.
“We call on the relevant authorities to fairly and transparently investigate all concerns that have been voiced regarding failure to adhere to procedures in the electoral code and allegations of fraud and violence,” the statement added.
It is yet to react after the court ruling.
It is, however, Senator Risch’s remarks that bring to the fore the direct confrontation between the US and China in the DRC, a mineral-rich central African country engulfed in conflict and poverty after decades of insurgency, especially in the eastern region, a lot of it fueled by external players.
Beijing’s voracious appetite for minerals over the past two decades has made China a major investor in key mineral markets, affording it an arguably unrivalled global resource network
ThinkChina
It also raises questions about the future of DRC –US elections, even as the latter goes to elections later in the year.
With an estimated 70 per cent of the world’s cobalt, vast copper and coltan reserves, and large but untapped lithium deposits, the DRC is a country of interest for the two global economic giants in as far as technology development is concerned. And with the technology wars and rivalry, the stakes are high.
According to ThinkChina, the Chinese control “around 60% of the global Electric Vehicle battery market and holds around 70% of the DRC’s mining sector market share.
“This is rooted in historical factors. First, Beijing’s voracious appetite for minerals over the past two decades has made China a major investor in key mineral markets, affording it an arguably unrivalled global resource network.
“Second, China aggressively invested in the DRC from around 2005, as it courted then President Joseph Kabila. During his tenure, Kabila oversaw the awarding of dozens of lucrative mining contracts to state-linked Chinese firms, which numerous investigations have revealed were underpinned by sizeable kickbacks for the political elite,” the e-Magazine with an eye on China wrote in its March 2023 publication.
In May 2023, President Tshisekedi was in Beijing for a five-day State visit and held talks with President Xi Jinping. The visit was widely reported as one that offered an opportunity to renegotiate the controversial 2007 $6 billion Sino-Congolese minerals-for-infrastructure deal.
Following the talks, Xi Jinping said China would continue to provide assistance for the economic and social development of the DRC, “support the DRC’s industrialization strategy, strengthen cooperation with the DRC in such fields as energy, minerals, agriculture, infrastructure and manufacturing. China has been the largest trading partner and largest source of foreign investment for the DRC.
The two heads of state announced the elevation of the bilateral relationship from a strategic partnership of win-win cooperation to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
The US is, however, expressing its relevance and influence, facilitating infrastructure funding through the IMF and the World Bank.
In January 2023, the US and DRC alongside Zambia announced an MoU concerning support for the development of a value chain in the electric vehicle battery sector.
The deal sought to facilitate the development of an integrated value chain for the production of EV batteries in the DRC and Zambia, ranging from raw material extraction, to processing, manufacturing, and assembly.
The US was President Tshisekedi’s first foreign visit outside Africa in April 2019, following his inauguration in his first term.
