African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 512 - 190: Establishing Diplomatic Relations Fever

"The East-Portuguese War ending so anticlimactically fully demonstrates that Portugal is not on the same level as East Africa; this is similar to Mexico’s relation to the United States. We can see a regionally hegemonic nation akin to North America’s United States rapidly rising in the African region. If no one checks the development of East Africa, Africa will also become Africa for Africans." — The Times

In response to the statement "Africa for Africans," a Sun Newspaper reporter conducted an exclusive interview with East Africa’s ambassador to Germany, Will.

"Ambassador Will, recently The Times commented that Africa is becoming Africa for Africans. Is this African referring to East Africa?"

Will: "We oppose this statement. East Africa has never claimed Africa is Africa for Africans. In fact, we can see that East Africa’s influence in Africa is limited to itself. North Africa is traditionally the sphere of influence of Arabs; the most influential country in West Africa is France; Britain’s influence in South Africa is also significant. Additionally, Spain, Italy, Belgium, and others have a presence in Africa, indicating that current Africa is diverse, not Africa for Africans as some suggest. I’d like to ask, who are the Africans? Who represents Africans? It’s not Germany, France, or the Arabs. So the notion of Africa for Africans is merely an empty anxiety."

Will’s interview drew widespread attention in Europe, as East Africa had previously maintained a relatively low profile in Europe, but the East-Portuguese War piqued the European public’s interest in this African nation for the first time.

For the time-honored colonial power Portugal, this was particularly humiliating, accompanied by sharp domestic criticism of both East Africa and the current government.

Like a coordination with The Times, mainstream Portuguese media painted East Africa as the greatest threat to Africa.

After all, this time Portugal suffered a significant loss of face. While Brazil’s independence was painful, Portugal could comprehend losing to Spain, the Netherlands, and Britain in past competitions. However, being defeated by an African country and ceding territory as a condition for peace was an absolute humiliation.

As a result, the current Portuguese government collapsed; following the new prime minister’s assumption of power, there were promises to reclaim lost territories by any means necessary, alongside announcing sanctions against East Africa.

The more frantically Portugal reacted, the less East Africa regarded Portugal. Sanction East Africa? Ridiculous. East Africa saw Portugal as a mere clown, while other countries started exploring the reasons behind Portugal’s embarrassment.

What followed was an assessment of East Africa’s national strength. Due to East Africa’s isolationist policies, the visibility of East Africa’s power was most directly presented through its navy.

People were then astonished to find that East Africa’s navy had quietly ascended to the world’s seventh-largest position, right behind Austria-Hungary and above Germany. The exact number of its army was speculative, but based on the East-Portuguese War, at least two hundred thousand troops were estimated.

From a military perspective, East Africa can be considered a world power. How strong it is isn’t entirely clear, but it certainly surpasses that of Portugal.

The resultant discourse was about the East African threat. The notion of an East African threat had existed since East Africa’s occupation of South Africa, but such arguments were largely suppressed by the Heixinggen financial group-controlled media.

As for Africa for Africans, even East Africa wouldn’t be foolish enough to make such a statement, as everyone knows Africans generally refer to black people, and East Africa wouldn’t hastily exclude itself from being associated with Germany.

Yet the sour remarks from The Times and Portuguese media reveal the genuine mindset of England and Portugal. The East-Portuguese War was essentially stopped by Britain forcibly suppressing Portugal, knowing that East Africa hadn’t exerted its full strength yet, whereas Portugal’s two colonies had been exhausted of all potential.

The immediate aftermath of the East-Portuguese War led some countries to seek friendly relations with East Africa, with Italy and Belgium being the most proactive. Given that their colonies were adjacent to East Africa, maintaining friendly ties was essential for their interests.

Consequently, Italy and Belgium dispatched diplomats to Dar es Salaam for negotiations on establishing diplomatic relations, marking the first time European nations actively sought diplomatic ties with East Africa. The Netherlands also sent diplomats a bit later to discuss the matter with East Africa.

In fact, East Africa already had diplomatic relations with these three countries, somewhat reminiscent of when East Africa’s colonial offices were set up in the Far Eastern German Commercial Chamber, but the East-Portuguese War brought relations a step further.

The Netherlands has maintained a good relationship with East Africa, with many collaborations in the past. Additionally, the Netherlands likely noticed East Africa’s activities on Kalimantan Island, necessitating a timely and formal consultation platform to prevent bilateral conflicts.

The Lan Fang Republic’s small size means giving it to East Africa is inconsequential, but with neighboring Dutch colonies, if conflict ensued, it seems East Africa truly has the capability to sever the Netherlands’ connection with the East Indies archipelago.

For these nations with amicable attitudes, of course, East Africa welcomes them with open arms, although East Africa’s planned area for embassies invites criticism.

The planned embassy area is in Dar es Salaam, rather than the capital, First Town. Nevertheless, East Africa demonstrates a certain level of sincerity by explaining that Dar es Salaam is East Africa’s most prosperous city, and First Town’s development is too backward to provide equivalent services.

Indeed, First Town’s commercial and service industry level isn’t as prosperous as Dar es Salaam, but it’s not as bleak as described by East Africa.

However, Ernst considered, from a realistic perspective, that the relationship between East Africa and these countries wasn’t yet intimate enough to relocate them to the East African capital. As a highly centralized country, First Town’s officials have access to highly classified information, posing a risk if compromised, so it’s better to station these countries’ diplomatic personnel in Dar es Salaam.

After all, the distance between Dar es Salaam and First Town is not far, less than an hour by train, and there’s telegraphic communication as well.

In addition to these countries with tangible interests in East Africa, some countries simply have good relations with the Heixinggen royal family or East Africa, prompting them to establish embassies in East Africa.

Ernst placed these embassies in First Town, including those of Germany and Austria-Hungary, the newly independent Romania, Sweden, the Far East Empire, Paraguay, and others.

Of course, the Far East Empire’s embassy is somewhat peculiar. It is hard to determine the exact nature of its relationship with East Africa, but to the Far East Empire, East Africa is perceived as one of the more amiable nations among others, at least more approachable.

In reality, East Africa also has a third embassy area, which is the Zanzibar island embassy area, hosting the embassies of the Ottoman Empire, the United States, Japan, among others.

Thus, East Africa’s diplomatic construction is heavily interwoven with Ernst’s personal sentiments, reflecting the unparalleled control and influence of the Heixinggen royal family in this monarchical autocratic state.

The three embassy areas also demonstrate East Africa’s diplomatic diversity: the ones in First Town are certainly friends of East Africa, Dar es Salaam hosts friendly nations, and Zanzibar Island is a melting pot.

This division of embassies also involves arrangements of a confidential nature. For instance, regarding East Africa’s mixed economic system, Ernst doesn’t want to expose it. With the Paris Commune in the past, East Africa doesn’t want to associate with it, even though the two are fundamentally different. Yet policy similarities create too high an overlap, and it would be unfortunate if people with motives interpreted it unfavorably. Furthermore, whether a monarchy, class autocracy, or slave system, none seem too well-received internationally, making East Africa decidedly reactionary.