BEIJING, China — China has issued strong support for Nigeria following threats of possible military intervention by former United States President Donald Trump, saying it opposes any attempt by foreign powers to interfere in another nation’s internal affairs under the guise of religion or human rights.
Speaking at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, Mao Ning, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Beijing “firmly supports the Nigerian government as it leads its people on the development path suited to its national conditions”.
Responding to a question about Trump’s remarks, Mao added that “as Nigeria’s comprehensive strategic partner, China firmly opposes any country using religion and human rights as an excuse to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs, and threatening other countries with sanctions and force”.
Her comments come days after Trump accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians and warned that Washington could take military action if the Nigerian government does not halt what he described as large-scale killings.
Trump instructed the US Department of War to prepare for “possible action”, saying any attack would be “fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians!”
On Saturday, November 1, 2025, the former US president declared Nigeria a “disgraced country”, threatening to cut off American aid and accusing authorities of allowing violence against Christians.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing’, to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
It is the most pointed language used by a former or sitting US leader toward Nigeria in decades and has prompted sharp responses from Abuja.
President Bola Tinubu insisted that claims of Christian persecution are inaccurate and do not reflect the country’s diverse religious landscape.
“The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians,” Tinubu said in response to Trump’s “country of particular concern” designation.
“Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so. Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it.”
Nigeria has faced waves of violence in recent years, including insurgency in the north-east, armed banditry in the north-west, and farmer–herder clashes in central states.
However, the government has repeatedly rejected assertions of an organised campaign against Christians, calling such claims politically driven and misleading.
