Rebel groups quickly blamed the assault on Russian Wagner Group operatives, who the rebels claimed were intent on scaring the Chinese. According to this account , the Russians were jealous of China’s long-standing presence in the country and wanted to deter Beijing so that Moscow could enlarge its own operations in the Central African mining sector.

The sun was just coming up on March 19, 2023, as gunmen invaded the Chimbolo gold mine in the Central African Republic and opened fire on the Chinese employees residing there. The site’s security guards were easily overpowered, and nine Chinese, part of a contingent that had launched the site only days earlier, were killed .

The sun was just coming up on March 19, 2023, as gunmen invaded the Chimbolo gold mine in the Central African Republic and opened fire on the Chinese employees residing there. The site’s security guards were easily overpowered, and nine Chinese, part of a contingent that had launched the site only days earlier, were killed.

Rebel groups quickly blamed the assault on Russian Wagner Group operatives, who the rebels claimed were intent on scaring the Chinese. According to this account, the Russians were jealous of China’s long-standing presence in the country and wanted to deter Beijing so that Moscow could enlarge its own operations in the Central African mining sector.

No evidence was provided for these assertions, and the identities of the perpetrators of the attack remain unclear two years later. Yet the incident raises questions over the potential clash between growing Russian and Chinese influence in sub-Saharan Africa.

On the most basic level, the two countries have fundamentally different objectives on the continent.