NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 23 — China’s state news agency Xinhua is taking a photo exhibition marking Taiwan’s restoration after World War II to five African countries, using historical images to promote Beijing’s position on national sovereignty, territorial integrity and reunification.
The exhibition, being held in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Nigeria and Mozambique, seeks to highlight China’s account of Taiwan’s return from Japanese colonial rule in 1945 while strengthening people-to-people ties between China and Africa.
Speaking at the Nairobi opening, Xinhua News Agency Africa Regional Bureau Director Ying Qiang said the exhibition was intended to help African audiences understand the historical background of Taiwan’s restoration and China’s position on the island’s future.
“Photographs are the most direct witnesses to history,” Ying said, adding that the images documented Taiwan’s restoration and the Chinese people’s struggle against foreign aggression.
He said the exhibition also reflected shared historical experiences between China and African countries, many of which endured colonial rule before attaining independence.
The event, held under the theme Remembering Taiwan’s Restoration and Advancing National Reunification, comes as Beijing intensifies its efforts to defend the one-China principle and oppose moves by Taiwan’s pro-independence forces.
Ying said the initiative was also part of broader China-Africa cultural engagement in 2026, which marks 70 years of China-Africa diplomatic relations and the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges.
He said Xinhua hoped the exhibition would serve as a bridge between Chinese and African communities, using historical images to encourage dialogue, mutual understanding and closer ties.
Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Guo Haiyan said attempts to challenge China’s position on Taiwan would not alter Beijing’s determination to achieve national reunification.
“They can never change the fact that Taiwan is part of China, nor can they stop the historical trend of China’s eventual and inevitable national reunification,” Guo said.
Guo said the exhibition was intended to commemorate the sacrifices made during China’s war against Japanese aggression, preserve historical memory and reinforce what Beijing considers the legal and historical foundations of its claim to Taiwan.
Former African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson Erastus Mwencha, who attended the opening, said Taiwan’s restoration resonated with Africa’s own experiences of colonialism and the struggle for independence.
He said China-Africa relations had been shaped by a shared history of resistance to foreign domination, citing Beijing’s support for African liberation movements and the construction of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway as symbols of solidarity.
He urged continued peaceful engagement across the Taiwan Strait, saying dialogue and constructive relations were important for regional and global security.
“We continue to hope that cross-Strait relations will remain characterised by peace, dialogue, and constructive engagement in the interest of regional and global security,” he said.
Qin Minxue, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification in Eastern Africa, called on overseas Chinese communities to preserve historical memory and promote understanding of China’s position on Taiwan.
He said the exhibition offered an opportunity to honour those who resisted colonial rule while encouraging younger generations to appreciate the historical significance Beijing attaches to Taiwan’s restoration.