IN SHORT: Several Facebook posts claim that China has warned the US to stay out of Nigeria’s affairs and promised to defend the West African country and supply it with weapons. But this is not true. China only declared support for Nigeria’s right to choose its own development path; it did not vow to defend or supply it with weapons.
On 31 October 2025, United States president Donald Trump said Christianity was facing an existential threat in Nigeria and classified it as “a country of particular concern”.
Days later, he threatened to send the US army “guns-a-blazing” to Nigeria to wipe out what he called the “Islamic Terrorists” who were allegedly killing Christians.
In response, Nigerian president Bola Tinubu released a statement, saying: “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.”
In this context, several social media posts claim that China has warned the US not to get involved in Nigeria’s affairs and promised to defend the West African country against any move made by Trump.
One post reads: “BREAKING: Don’t Use Religion As Excuse To Interfere In Nigeria's Affairs, we will defend Nigeria and surely supply them with powerful weapons, China Warns US.”
It also claims: “China has fired a warning shot at the United States, telling Washington to stay out of Nigeria’s internal affairs after former President Donald Trump threatened military action over alleged persecution of Christians.”
The post includes a link and encourages users to click on it to “read more” on the statement attributed to China.
While there have been reports of attacks on Christians and other religious groups in Nigeria, Trump has provided no proof for any of his claims.
China and Nigeria have a long-standing diplomatic and economic relationship, including some military cooperation.
China and the US are regarded as global powers with long-standing economic ties, but there is frequently political tension between the two.
The same claim can be found here, here, here and here.
But did China promise to defend Nigeria and supply it with weapons to fight the US? We checked.
Misleading claim
Africa Check found no credible media reports on the Chinese government saying it would defend Nigeria and supply it with weapons to fight the US.
Instead, we found a post on the X handle of the Chinese embassy in Nigeria, which quoted China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, responding to questions during a regular press conference in Beijing, China’s capital.
When asked about Trump’s statements on the alleged killing of Christians in Nigeria, she said:
As a comprehensive strategic partner of Nigeria, China firmly supports the Nigerian government in leading its people to a development path that fits Nigeria’s national realities. We oppose any country’s interference in other countries’ internal affairs under the pretext of religion and human rights. We oppose the wanton threat of sanction and use of force.
There was no additional statement from the Chinese government or anything about defending Nigeria and supporting it with weapons.
The link attached to the posts also does not take users to an actual report with more information about the claim. This is a red flag.
While China advised the US not to interfere in Nigeria’s internal affairs, it did not say that it would defend or supply Nigeria with “powerful weapons” to fight the US.
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