China has urged “all sides” to ensure the safety of Gabon’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who was deposed in a coup early Wednesday.
China’s foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the country is closely following the developing situation in Gabon.
Wang urged all parties to “guarantee the personal safety of President Bongo, and uphold national peace and stability,” China’s state-run broadcaster CGTN reported.
Beijing’s reply came just hours after Gabonese military officers declared on national television that they had seized power.
The coup attempt came after official results showed Bongo gaining a third term in government in the country’s election on Saturday.
The military, however, announced a cancellation of the result, and the dissolution of the country’s institutions, amid reports of gunfire in the capital Libreville on Wednesday.
The country’s electoral commission had earlier declared that Bongo had received more than 64% of the vote to win the election on Saturday. For 56 years, Bongo’s family has been in charge in Gabon.
Following the military coup in Niger, a West African nation, late last month, Gabon is the most recent African nation to face a military takeover.
