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Beijing Pressure 2 African countries quit China’s critical international group

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Beijing’s coercion raises serious concerns about the extent of China’s interference in the political autonomy of sovereign democratic states,” says IPAC.

China is putting pressure on two African countries to leave the inter-parliamentary alliance on China (IPAC), a group of hundreds of lawmakers focused on tackling the malignant activities of the Communist government, the organization said.

IPAC said Beijing will use “extreme diplomatic enforcement” to force Malawi and Gambian lawmakers to stop group membership. Beijing’s forced labor included the threat of a Malawian president traveling to China for a regional summit and canceling his trip to China due to a meeting with Xi Jinping, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“Beijing’s coercion and political interference are sinking into new depths, and Chinese diplomats are now trying to decide what foreign lawmakers can and cannot do, and they can be linked,” the alliance said in a statement posted on social media platform X on April 9.

The IPAC said that the withdrawal of two African countries from the organization “scopes serious concerns about the extent of China’s interference in the political autonomy of sovereign democratic states.”

“The fact that the Republic of China (China) thinks it is appropriate to reduce the weight of its diplomatic equipment to non-governmental agencies and target members of African countries that enjoy important economic leverage reflects a stance of bullying and domination that we should not hesitate to blame.”

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

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IPAC noted that African lawmakers are “increasingly concerned about Beijing’s activities on the continent.”

“We will repeatedly reiterate their commitment to the government to clarify their opposition to Beijing’s interference in Malawi and the Gambia, and to defend the rights of freely elected lawmakers around the world,” the group said.

Retreat

Malawi and Gambia joined IPAC last July along with Colombia, Iraq, the Solomon Islands and Uruguay. At the time, IPAC appointed two Gambian MPs, Abdow Sheesai and Amadou Kamala, and two Malawian MPs, Ackson Kareil Banda and Ephraim Kayenbe, as new members of the organization.

Last November, Ceesay was one of many IPAC members to sign a joint statement criticizing the Hong Kong government’s decision to declare 45 democratic figures in the city as “a tragedy of justice.”

In January, Ceesay sent an audio recording to IPAC, informing the alliance that the Chinese administration had complained to the Gambian Foreign Ministry about his membership.

“We have some very shocking news…it’s a problem right now,” Ceesay said on the recording. “The president is not happy with us at all.”

Later in the same month, Ceesay and Camara informed IPAC that they were withdrawing. Ceesay told the alliance in a statement that said his decision was “not affected by the Chinese embassy.”

Gambia’s Information Minister Ismaila Seyesa, who has nothing to do with Abdouli Sheyesa, said he was unaware of his efforts to shake up politicians in his country.

“They decided on their behalf to the bilateral (relationship) between the government and China, then they decided to opt out of IPAC,” the Information Minister said.

IPAC held its first summit in Taiwan last July. Within two weeks, the two Malawian lawmakers said they had withdrawn from the organization.

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

“I want to spread my sincere apologies to the People’s Republic of China,” Cayenbe wrote in a letter.

When contacted by the Associated Press via email, Kayembe denied that his withdrawal from IPAC was due to forced enforcement by the Malawi government or the Chinese government. Instead, he said his decision was his perception that IPAC was “to achieve its geopolitical intentions towards China.”

Two IPAC Cochairs spoke to the CCP.

“This is unacceptable pressure. I tell you everything you need to know about the CCP,” wrote Miriam Rexman, a Slovak member of the European Parliament, on social media platform X on April 9, in response to an IPAC statement on Malawi and the Gambia.
Zimbabwean MP Daniel Molokele said in a short video shared by the IPAC that it was Beijing’s approach to African and African parliaments and “a line at the level of intimidation and bullying tactics.”

“It requires us to unite, oppose and not continue to force African countries, governments and lawmakers to win positions by China,” Molokele added.

A US Congress hearing focused on the Chinese administration’s exploitation of African minerals was held in March, with experts saying Beijing exploiting political and social turmoil on the continent.
On April 10, IPAC announced that two new countries, Fiji and Panama, have joined the group.
Also, US Rep. John Mourenard (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Selection Committee on CCP, has announced that he has taken up the IPAC joint chair, which was left by Marco Rubio after the former Senator Florida became US Secretary of State.

US Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-ore.), who is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is another IPAC co-chair in the United States.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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