On Sunday, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi assured Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi of Cairo’s firm position on preserving its water security, and the need to reach a binding agreement on the Ethiopian “Renaissance” dam.
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It is noteworthy that China is one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, which held a session on the dam in early July.
Meanwhile, media reports indicate Chinese investments in Addis Ababa and its controversial dam with Cairo over a decade.
According to a statement by the Egyptian presidency, the Chinese Foreign Minister, who is currently visiting Cairo, conveyed to Sisi a verbal message from his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
The message included: “Confirming China’s keenness to continue developing its strategic relations with Egypt, and Beijing’s firm support for Cairo in its comprehensive development efforts, combating terrorism and achieving security and stability in the region.”
The Chinese minister revealed “the acceptance of Egypt’s accession as a dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which deals with coordination and cooperation in the areas of combating terrorism, extremism, energy, and science.”
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He expressed “Beijing’s full understanding of the utmost importance of the Nile River to Egypt, and then China continues its interest in finding a solution to this issue in a manner that meets the interests of all parties,” according to the same source.
In turn, Sisi affirmed Egypt’s firm position in preserving its water security represented by its historical rights to the Nile waters.
By reaching a binding legal agreement to fill and operate the dam that fairly achieves the interests of all.
On July 5, Ethiopia notified the downstream countries of the Nile, Egypt, and Sudan, to start the process of a second filling of the dam with water.
And without reaching a tripartite agreement, which Cairo and Khartoum rejected as a unilateral measure.
Addis Ababa insists on implementing a second filling of the dam with water in July and next August, even if it did not reach an agreement on it.
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It says that it does not aim to harm Khartoum and Cairo and that the dam aims to generate electricity for development purposes.
While Egypt and Sudan adhere to first reaching a tripartite agreement on filling and operating the dam to ensure the continued flow of their annual share of the Nile waters.
On July 8, the UN Security Council concluded that it is necessary to intensively re-negotiate the Renaissance Dam, under the auspices of the African Union, to sign a binding legal agreement that meets the needs of the three countries.
