Kenya faces US threat for praising China's role in ‘new world order'
The tension escalated following
a state visit to Beijing in April, when President William Ruto secured landmark infrastructure and trade deals and publicly praised China's role in what he called a 'new world order'. This provoked a backlash from the United States, which has launch a review of the ally status.
The status, granted in 2024, gives Kenya preferential access to a range of
military and economic benefits, including
US defence contracts and joint training opportunities. It was part of Washington's strategy to counter
Chinese and Russian influence in the region.
Now, the US is leveraging the non-Nato status to express its frustration with Kenya's deepening ties to China, Kenya's largest bilateral lender which has
financed infrastructure projects from railways to highways in the country.
US Senator Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, this week proposed an amendment to the National Defence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2026 to reassess the status.
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