Algeria Alarmed as China Shifts Strategic Focus to Morocco

China, a traditional ally of Algeria, discouraged by the political and social instability that has prevailed since February in the country, has this time set its sights on Morocco, writes Algérie Part. All the mega-projects initially planned in Algeria have been directed towards the kingdom.

For the website, it was King Mohammed VI’s visit to China in 2016 that helped consolidate the Sino-Moroccan alliance. The "Strategic Partnership" signed between the two countries has opened the "New Silk Roads" to Rabat, which has reciprocated by exempting Chinese tourists from visas.

"These Chinese projects launched in Morocco strangely coincide with the decline of Chinese investments in Algeria and Algeria’s withdrawal into itself, particularly since early 2019 due to its internal political problems and the incoherence of its regime," lamented the Algerian media, referring to the industrial park near Tangier and the Marrakech-Agadir high-speed rail link.

While Algiers is still dreaming of a mega-port that will probably never see the light of day, the Moroccan port of Tanger-Med is making great strides, dominating the southern shore of the western Mediterranean, the media added, before concluding "Meanwhile, Morocco is taking advantage of it and accumulating new Chinese projects on its territory to boost its economy".

Another aspect, the same source points out, concerns the health sector, where "Morocco has taken a worrying lead over Algeria in terms of cooperation with China". While the kingdom has taken the initiative to ensure the vaccination of its population to cope with the pandemic, the Algerian leaders are content to observe, "without lifting a finger".

"No serious contact has been made and no concrete steps have been taken to benefit from Chinese aid in terms of vaccination by Algeria, which remains strangely immobile in the face of a global health emergency marked by a very tough international competition," the website writes.