On Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping told his Eritrean counterpart in Beijing that strong China-Eritrea relations were essential to Horn of Africa peace and mutually beneficial development.

Eritrea’s location on the Red Sea, one of the world’s major shipping routes, is strategically important to China.

Eritrea, a reclusive country that gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a protracted war, borders tiny Djibouti, where the Chinese military established its first overseas naval station in 2017.

After a guard of honor ceremony in Tiananmen Square, Xi told Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People that China and Eritrea “share a deep bond of friendship (in) an uncertain and unstable world.”

“A strong China-Eritrea relationship is not only in line with the common and long-term interests of both countries, but also for maintaining regional peace,” Xi said.

Last year, China appointed senior diplomat Xue Bing to the newly established office of special envoy for the Horn of Africa, a geopolitically sensitive, conflict-ridden region where Beijing has large investments and, along with partner Russia, has been contending with Western countries for influence.

In 1967, Isaias came to China for military training at a “momentous time, when China was at the apex of the Cultural Revolution, when bilateral ties between China and the former Soviet Union had disappeared… and at a historical juncture, when China first tested the atomic bomb”.

Isaias lauded Chinese “contributions to transform the world order into a more just and fair relationship among peoples and nations” in a separate meeting with Premier Li Qiang on Monday.

Xi told state media yesterday that Beijing “is willing to work with Eritrea to promote mutually beneficial cooperation and development.”

“The Chinese side encourages and supports Chinese-funded enterprises to invest in Eritrea, and is willing to discuss strengthening infrastructure construction, cooperation in telecommunications, agriculture, mining, fisheries, and other fields,” Chinese official television reported.

Western groups have accused Isaias’ 30-year administration of several human rights cases of abuse, including the indefinite conscription of men and unmarried women into military or government service since a 1998-2000 border war with Ethiopia.

Asmara officials routinely dispute such charges.

Eritrea’s foreign ministry dismissed a March State Department finding that its troops committed war crimes in a two-year conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray area as “unsubstantiated and defamatory.”