Secret Treaty of Mogadishu

Secret Treaty of Mogadishu was a treaty, signed by Ethiopia and China in year 1942 (in Mogadishu, Ethiopia). This treaty partitioned Africa into two "spheres of influence": Chinese and Ethiopian.

In the short term, the Treaty allowed both Ethiopians and Chinese to acquire more territory by taking places without protest by the now-signatories. In particular, the Treaty removed any reason for either Ethiopia or China to not attack Pakštuva and Buganda. Both countries were invaded and partitioned in the Borderland War.

Over the long term, however, Chinese-Ethiopian antagonism in Africa remained. For China, their African colonies were to include as much lands as possible, and were key to making the Indian Ocean diplomatically a Chinese "inner sea" in the imagined post-war geopolitical order. For Ethiopia, any non-African presence (including Chinese presence) was only a temporary necessity before the goal "Africa to Africans" would be realized to the full extent.

As such, Chinese-Ethiopian conflicts actually restarted even during the Borderland war and increased with the contest for influence in Katanga, a country not partitioned by the Secret Treaty because of too conflicting interests.

This page was created by Abdul-aziz.