China's strategic footprint in Africa has evolved well beyond infrastructure and investment, with Beijing now deploying diplomatic pressure, political signalling, and market leverage to shape the behaviour of African governments — including who they meet, which conferences they host, and how they engage on the global stage, according to an analysis published in The Interpreter.

Eswatini in the Crosshairs

The most pointed recent example involves Eswatini, the landlocked southern African kingdom that remains Taiwan's last diplomatic partner on the continent. When Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te visited Eswatini earlier this month, China responded with what the article described as 'nasty criticism', accusing the kingdom's leaders of being 'kept and fed' by Taiwan.

The pressure reportedly began before Lai even landed. According to the analysis, China had prevailed on Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar to revoke overflight permissions for the Taiwanese president's plane, forcing a change of travel plans. Lai ultimately arrived in Eswatini aboard King Mswati III's private aircraft.

China then announced an expansion of its zero-tariff trade policy to every African country — except Eswatini. The message was unambiguous: access to Chinese markets is tied to adherence to Beijing's 'One China' policy. Over the past decade, China has successfully persuaded several African states to sever ties with Taiwan; Taiwan now holds formal diplomatic relations with only 12 countries worldwide.

The RightsCon Incident in Zambia

A separate episode earlier this year underscored how China's influence is reaching into civic and political spaces. In April, the world's largest digital rights conference, RightsCon, was abruptly postponed in Zambia. Organisers alleged that Chinese diplomatic pressure played a role, with Zambian officials reportedly indicating that diplomats from China had objected to the participation of Taiwanese civil society representatives.

According to the event organisers, they were told that Taiwanese participants would need to be excluded and certain topics moderated for the conference to proceed. Notably, RightsCon was not a Taiwan-focused event — its agenda included discussions on digital governance, surveillance, censorship, cyber security, and internet freedom, including scrutiny of China's own export of digital authoritarian practices and surveillance technologies.

If the allegations are accurate, this marks a significant escalation: China's pressure was directed not at formal state-to-state diplomacy but at shaping who can participate in international civic discourse within an African nation.

Economic Leverage Remains Substantial

Economic weight underpins Beijing's political leverage. China continues to dominate trade relationships across large swathes of the continent, and Africa's trade deficit with China reportedly rose to approximately $102 billion last year. That imbalance gives Beijing considerable room to reward compliance and punish deviation.

The zero-tariff exclusion of Eswatini is a textbook illustration of how economic tools are now wielded for political ends — a pattern critics argue is becoming more systematic across the continent.

Security Footprint Expands

Beyond economics and diplomacy, China has been steadily expanding its security presence in Africa through military training programmes, peacekeeping deployments, and maritime cooperation. China is now the second-largest financial contributor to UN peacekeeping operations and operates its first overseas military logistics base on the continent, located in Djibouti.

Taken together, the trajectory suggests Beijing's ambitions in Africa are increasingly multi-dimensional — shaping not just infrastructure and trade, but diplomatic behaviour, political incentives, and the boundaries of permissible international engagement. How African governments navigate this pressure is likely to define the continent's geopolitical posture for years to come.