Abstract

The Ethiopian civil war threatens the safety of China's strategic infrastructure and economic interests in the Horn of Africa. With the expansion of the U.S.-China strategic competition, the Ethiopian civil war becomes a variable in U.S.-China relations. The U.S. synthesizes its policy goals in the Ethiopian civil war, the U.S-China trade war, tracing the origin of COVID-19, and the Taiwan issue to pressure China through its sanction against Ethiopia and influences in international organizations. It is suggested that China should take the following measures. First, advocates the establishment and implementation of an international humanitarian aid monitoring mechanism with neutrality. Second, encourages the agency of countries in the Horn of Africa to oppose external interference, implement the Initiative of Peaceful Development in the Horn of Africa, and facilitate the peace talk and subsequent political arrangement between the two parties in the war. Third, situate the Horn of Africa in the broad picture of China’s foreign relations, and align the policy toward the Horn of Africa with China's general foreign policy to diversify the goals and tools of foreign policy.