5 April, 10:21
What happens when a rising superpower outsources its dirty work to a rogue state? China just found out — the hard way. In Africa, Beijing’s silent bid for dominance has been hijacked by its own proxy. Russia, once a convenient enforcer, has turned into a geopolitical vandal, looting the continent and sidelining the very power that bankrolled its rise. The Sahel is no longer China’s springboard — it’s Moscow’s playground. And the blowback has begun.
In the 2010s, China began building a new world in Africa. Without cannons, but with billions of dollars. Niger's uranium and oil, Angola's infrastructure, Congo's mines — Beijing handed out loans, built roads and pipelines, and signed strategic partnership agreements. But Africa turned out to be not just a market and a source of raw materials. It became a geopolitical battlefield. And in this war, China decided not to expose itself, but to act through a proxy — through Russia.
Russia — China’s Mercenary?
When France still held Africa within its sphere of influence — through language, troops, and the economy — China needed someone to help push Paris out. A regular army wouldn't do: it would provoke not only France but the entire Western coalition. The solution appeared in the form of the Russian PMC Wagner.
Since 2017, Wagner operatives began rapidly expanding into the Sahel belt — Mali, the Central African Republic (CAR), then Burkina Faso and, eventually, Niger, which became a symbol of Russia's "geopolitical victory over the West." In July 2023, Niger's military carried out a coup, ousting the pro-Western president Bazoum, and within days Prigozhin publicly supported the new junta, promising to “restore order.”
Behind the scenes — logistics, weapons, contracts, military training. Behind all that — Chinese interests. For years, Beijing had invested in oil (CNPC, SORA), pipelines (WAPCo), and uranium mines. But France stood as a barrier. And here, the Russian PMC — with ties to the GRU and General Staff — became the perfect “hammer” against the European competitor.
Second-Class Colonizers
At first, everything went according to plan. The French fled, the Americans retreated. China bided its time — hoping that through Russia, it could realize its strategy of “economic conquest.” But as soon as the French empire cracked, the Russians forgot why, for what purpose, and at whose expense they had arrived.
The population of Niger, which just yesterday took to the streets waving Chinese flags, now waves Russian tricolors and chants “Je suis Wagner.” The PMC transformed from China’s temporary ally into a predatory and greedy colonizer.
The Russians began doing what they do best — seizing resources. As in CAR (gold, diamonds), in Mali (phosphates), they began demanding access to Niger’s uranium mines, where China had invested for years and built infrastructure. Moreover, in 2025, Chinese oil executives were simply expelled from the country — supposedly due to labor conflicts, but clearly against the backdrop of a strengthening pro-Russian junta.
Beijing’s Cunning Plan Backfired
China tried to use Russia as a borrowed sword but forgot that playing with the devil never comes without consequences. The Kremlin saw a new Syria in Africa — a market of influence, a source of gold and resources, a tool to blackmail the West. And China, with its “quiet expansion,” turned from the architect of an African strategy into a hostage of Wagner’s anarchy.
Today, Chinese companies are being squeezed out of the very countries into which Beijing invested for decades. When news emerged in 2023 about the deaths of nine Chinese citizens in the CAR, suspicions immediately fell on Wagner. And no one investigated. Everything is cloaked in an “anti-colonial” fog, under which geopolitical raiders easily hide.
Why Can’t China Simply Respond?
Beijing has the resources, the army, and a diplomatic apparatus. But it lacks the most important thing — an instrument of covert power. A regular army means a diplomatic scandal. And peaceful investors with smartphones and pipelines can’t defend themselves in a world where the victor is the one with the machine gun and a “security contract.”
China Needs Its Own Wagner — But Not of Chinese Citizens
The solution is obvious: Beijing needs its own PMC — but not made up of Chinese citizens, to avoid direct accusations from France or NATO. It could be an international structure, where Chinese money funds mercenaries from third countries — just as Russia once did for China, but now under Chinese control.
Potentially, such an “Asian Corps” could be formed from:
veterans of armies not allied with the West (Ukraine, Pakistan, Indonesia, Latin America);
private security companies with prior experience in conflict zones;
shadow structures under the guise of “investment protection.”
China Lost the First Round in Africa Not Because It Chose the Wrong Power, But Because It Misunderstood Its Nature
Russia did not act as a mercenary, but as a predator. Now that Moscow has entrenched itself in the Sahel, Beijing must rethink its strategy — and act more harshly, albeit covertly. Otherwise, it risks ceding Africa for decades to come.
Conclusion
China’s cunning policy broke against Russia’s treachery. Beijing tried to act through a proxy — to use Wagner to push out France, avoiding direct confrontation. But Russia, as always, acted its own way: without a strategy, but with a predator’s greed. Having received Chinese money and geopolitical cover, the Russians simply switched sides — becoming not a tool, but a competitor.
However, this is not just Russia’s problem. It is a defeat of the Chinese model itself — closed, insincere, built on double games. China tried to quietly colonize Africa economically, using others’ hands, without assuming responsibility. And it was in this shadow that its project collapsed.
Beijing’s next move will be tougher. But this move — a conflict with Russia in Africa, albeit indirect — is inevitable. And here China will inevitably face the one it tried so hard to escape — France, which never abandoned its sphere of influence, merely retreated temporarily, seeking new ways to return, new alliances, new models of geopolitical gameplay.
The Sahel is becoming the stage of a new triangle of confrontation: China — Russia — France. And the winner is the one who acts not just with force, but more honestly. Africa is tired of being a pawn. Now it watches the players more closely than ever before.