Faced with the Chinese offensive in Equatorial Guinea, the United States did not take off

While the United States is increasing the sending of diplomatic delegations, seeking to dissuade Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo from accepting the construction of a Chinese military base in Equatorial Guinea, the latent war between Beijing and Washington is intensifying.

The ambitions of the United States and China to expand their influence in West Africa are making headlines in the international press. Last Friday, the Wall Street Journal published a platform in which the American plans were described to "thwart the construction, by China, of a military base in the Atlantic, in West Africa".

The American newspaper considers, moreover without irony, that West Africa is an "American pre-square", and that Equatorial Guinea is "supposed to remain in the American sphere of influence", having to "respect the 'Balance of Power and American Security'.

A formal appeal to the supremacy of the United States, which, paradoxically, considers that China “is pursuing its expansionist plans”. And see it with a very bad eye.

Read: How Chinese and Americans are fighting over the Horn of Africa

We had to wait for Trita Parsi, president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Governance (QIRS), and MSNBC journalist, to tackle the newspaper and other American media that used the same rhetoric, against a background, according to him, of “media deception”.

According to the foreign policy specialist, the Wall Street Journal would have "failed to consider the numbers". While the United States has 750 military bases outside its territory, China has only two, recalls Parsi. “It's not about whether China is right or wrong on this issue. There are good arguments for Equatorial Guinea to reject the construction of the military base,” writes Trita Parsi.

But, he continues, “we must stop justifying the pursuit of American military hegemony on a global scale”. "Perhaps both (the United States and China, editor's note) are expansionist," concludes the journalist quite simply.

A cold war between the United States and China… in Africa

Currently, the construction of the Chinese port in Equatorial Guinea is only at the project stage. US intelligence said China may "deploy warships in the Atlantic facing the east coast of the United States".

But when 8 kilometers separate Equatorial Guinea from Florida, and the Pentagon, on the other hand, has military bases less than 500 kilometers from China, which of the two powers is the more hostile? Especially since, in reality, nothing confirms that this port, which still does not exist, will be a military installation.

On the side of Malabo, nothing has yet filtered. The possible decision of Beijing to install its second African military port, after that of Djibouti, in Equatorial Guinea and not in Angola or Namibia, closer to the Chinese circle of influence, remains surprising.

Especially since after the discovery of the Indian military base of Agaléga in Mauritius, China is undoubtedly worried about its influence in the western Indian Ocean. Moreover, the recent and rapid military rapprochement between Moscow and Malabo – even if China and Russia maintain cordial relations – should be another deterrent for Beijing to invest in Equatorial Guinea.

Read: Mauritius: has India colonized the island of Agaléga?

A file that shows how difficult China is to conduct its business in West Africa. Between piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and the compulsory passage by the Togolese and Ghanaian coasts - invested by the European navies - of Chinese ships, the Middle Kingdom is undoubtedly seeking to protect its interests.

Recent massive Chinese investments in fishing in Gambian, Senegalese and Sierra Leonean waters could also be part of Beijing's strategy.

This will not prevent the United States and China from accusing each other. The two world powers are increasingly hostile to each other. It remains to be seen to what extent Africa will act as a battlefield for this war, which is still cold for the moment.