DRC refuse to sign the China-EAC security cooperation pact citing the community's failure to condemn Rwanda on its role on incursion on its soil and support for M23

 The Democratic Republic of Congo took part this Saturday, September 7, 2024 in Beijing, China, in the first ministerial dialogue focused on international cooperation for the application of the security law, sanctioned by the signing of a memorandum of understanding on the cooperation of the police chiefs of East African countries and the Chinese Ministry of Public Security (EAPCCO), reports a dispatch from the Ministry of the Interior.

The Congolese government, represented by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Interior and Security, Jacquemain Shabani, reserved the right to sign this document due to the lack of condemnation from the East African Community (EAC) regarding the aggression against the DRC in its eastern part by its neighbor, Rwanda. Nevertheless, the head of Congolese security expressed the DRC's wish to maintain cooperation with the land of the rising sun with a view to improving the well-being of the population and its security.

"Let me, as Minister of the Interior of the DRC, underline our reservation regarding its commitment to this memorandum of understanding that was signed today. Being a member of the East African community, mastering and realizing the values ​​and principles of our community, which were recalled during our discussions today, among others the protection of the territories of our different countries, principles violated against our country, the Democratic Republic of Congo and until now never condemned by the East African community. The DRC marks its reservation and will favor its bilateral relationship between it and the People's Republic of China," declared Jacquemain Shabani from the top of the podium of the conference room of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security.

During his speech, Jacquemain Shabani stressed the importance of this first ministerial dialogue which, for him, is part of the construction of a new platform for cooperation in law enforcement with a view to a security sharing community between China and East Africa, of which the DRC is a member.

This refusal of the DRC to sign this memorandum is also explained by its desire to safeguard its guiding principles, among others the respect of territorial integrity and the inviolability of its borders. Jacquemain Shabani specified that his country will rather favor bilateral china-Congolese cooperation.