Kenya ‘a prop’ to China’s supremacy agenda, US report says

Kenya's President William Ruto (L) shakes hands with China's Head of State Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on October 18, 2023. (PHOTO | AFP)

An official report to the United States Congress claims China has abused its economic influence over Kenya to drive its expansionist agenda, including pushing for the ultimate annexation of Taiwan as part of its One-China policy.

The 741-page annual report, released by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, says Beijing is using its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which includes investments in roads, railways, and airports, to bolster its quest for global supremacy.

The commission was created in 2000 to submit an annual report to Congress on the national security implications of the economic ties between the US and China, and to provide recommendations for government action.

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The 2023 report notes that many of the countries that have sent Taiwan nationals to China, such as Kenya, have close economic relations with China and are all signatories of the BRI. Kenya became a signatory in 2017, the year it launched the standard gauge railway (SGR), one of Chinas largest investments in Africa.

In one high-profile case, Kenya, one of the highest recipients of BRI investment in Africa, agreed to extradite to mainland China 45 Taiwan citizens implicated in a telecom equipment scam that targeted Chinese nationals, despite protests from Taiwan, reads part of the report.

Kenya continues to deepen its economic relations with China. The year following the deportations, Kenya opened a major railway from the Port of Mombasa to the city of Naivasha, financed by a $5 billion (Sh766,79 billion) loan from a Chinese bank, and as of 2022, China serves as Kenyas largest external creditor, at 22 per cent of its external debt, the report states.

In December 2017, a Beijing court handed down jail sentences of up to 15 years to 85 people deported from Kenya for telecoms fraud, including 44 from Taiwan.

Kenyas Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Singoei said Nairobi respects the One-China Policy.

For all intents and purposes, these are Chinese nationals ... I would not be apologetic about our relationship with China, just like I would be unapologetic about our relationship with the US, he said. He also defended Nairobis involvement in the BRI.

Yes, Kenya is a partner in the Belt and Road Initiative, has benefited a great deal from infrastructural developments like the SGR. We have been in negotiation with neighbouring countries with a view to having that line extended to our border with Uganda all the way to DRC. So, that would be fair, but it is not in any way antagonistic ... it is a mutually beneficial relationship that we are looking at, Dr Singoei.

He added: We owe China tonnes of money and in repaying what we owe to them, we work with everybody, including some of the Western bilateral partners and multilateral organisations, among others, to address our debt situation.

Chinese loans as a share of Kenyas total external loans had risen to $9.06 billion (Sh1.38 trillion) or 23 per cent of the total, by end of September. However, the Chinese stock of loans is lower than the World Banks at $12.37 billion(Sh1.83 trillion), or 32.3 per cent of Kenyas total loans.

But China is also Kenyas largest bilateral trader, with imports from the country, described as the factory of the world, increasing by 41 per cent from Sh320.8 billion in 2013 to Sh452.6 billion, according to official data.

According to the report, China is also keen to ensure that the conflict in neighbouring countries does not spill over into Kenya where it has vast investments.

In South Sudan, China has a vested interest in using its UN peacekeeping presence to prevent the conflict from spilling over into neighboring countries that host signature BRI investments, such as Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia, states the report.

Indeed, Kenya, the report noted, is one of the participants in the International Military Flight Training Conferenceinitiated by the Peoples Liberation Army Air Force in 2010which is held biennially. The conference has been convened seven times since inception.

Participants in previous conferences included representatives from Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Kuwait, Namibia, Pakistan, Spain, Thailand, Zambia, Zimbabwe and others, the report states.

Dr Singoei defended Kenyas ties with China in South Sudan.

We work very closely with the US on the same objective. That is partly why we are working on Sudan, because Sudan is within the same ecosystem with South Sudan.