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China-Africa relations
ChinaDiplomacy

China, the US and a Twitter tit-for-tat over Congo cobalt contracts

  • A Chinese ambassador and a former American envoy spar on social media about the DRC’s plans to review a series of infrastructure-for-minerals deals
  • But the real picture on the ground is not so confrontational, an analyst says

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The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the world’s biggest producer of cobalt. Photo: AFP
Jevans Nyabiage

When the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo announced his decision, a former American diplomat was quick to offer support.

J. Peter Pham, a former US special envoy to the Great Lakes and Sahel regions, endorsed Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi’s plan to renegotiate infrastructure-for-minerals deals China had signed with the DRC over the last decade or so.

The US has no outward stake in the agreements, but Pham, now a fellow at the Washington-based think tank the Atlantic Council, gave his backing.

“[I] completely agree, [your] Excellency. This is why non-transparent agreements that swap real mineral resources for inferior or non-existent infrastructure are not in the interests of society even if they benefit those who signed the contracts,” he said on Twitter.

Zhu Jing, China’s ambassador to the DRC, was also quick to respond, warning that the Central African nation “must not become the battleground for great powers”.

“No one has the right to use the country, a sovereign and independent state, to satisfy its own interests,” Zhu tweeted.

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