China today criticised Japan for creating discord in resource-rich Africa where the two countries are competing for influence.
Japan wanted to sell its own intentions to African countries and had attempted to sow discord between China and Africa at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi yesterday, Spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Hua Chunying told reporters.
However, Japan tried to derail the summit agenda by discussing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reform and maritime security issues, which caused discontent among the representatives of African countries, she said.
African countries firmly opposed politicising of the TICAD and discussing Asian problems in Africa, and they firmly opposed Japan's intention of imposing its own will on Africa, the spokesperson claimed.
Hua said the summit declaration showed that Japan finally had to accept the views of African countries, focus on maritime security cooperation in Africa, and follow the principles on the UNSC reform reached at the 2015 TICAD summit in Yokohama.
Japan along with India, Germany and Brazil are part of the G4 nations seeking expansion of UNSC Permanent Membership.
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