Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja
The Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership (NCSP) has reaffirmed Nigeria’s unwavering commitment to the One-China Principle, stating that the country’s position on Taiwan remains a settled and non-negotiable matter of national policy.
The statement comes as global attention turns once again to China’s insistence on the One-China Principle, following the visit of a United States delegation led by President Donald Trump in Beijing, accompanied by America’s most powerful business executives. The visit underscored the enduring centrality of the Taiwan question in China’s diplomatic engagements, and Beijing’s consistent position that the People’s Republic of China is the world’s only legitimate Chinese government and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of its territory.
Nigeria’s commitment to this principle spans more than five decades, dating to the establishment of diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1971. It was most authoritatively expressed during President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing in 2024, where both governments issued a joint statement affirming Nigeria’s adherence to the One-China Principle, recognising the PRC as the sole legal authority representing the whole of China, and expressing full support for China’s pursuit of national reunification.
The NCSP says it will continue to leverage Nigeria’s long record of diplomatic reliability as a foundation for deeper economic engagement with Beijing, with a focus on manufacturing investment, technology transfer, industrial development and export-oriented production befitting Nigeria’s scale as Africa’s largest economy.
Joseph Tegbe, Director-General of the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership, noted that China has already made significant contributions to Nigeria’s railway corridors, port and energy infrastructure, telecommunications networks and industrial capacity, and emphasised that the partnership must now advance further, into Nigeria’s digital economy, solid minerals sector, agro-processing capacity and consumer market, to deliver a more productive and balanced economic relationship.
The NCSP remains committed to strengthening bilateral collaboration with China across trade, investment, technology transfer, infrastructure, and capacity building, with a clear mandate to deliver measurable, tangible value to Nigeria’s economy.
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