Eritrea's leader makes rare visit to China

Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki, who's on a rare visit out of his country, has met China's President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang in Beijing.

Mr Isaias laid a wreath at the Monument to People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square, which remembers all those who died in the struggle to build a modern China.

In 1989 Tiananmen Square became the focus for large-scale protests for greater political freedom.

The protests were crushed by the Chinese authorities.

Mr Isaias praised what he called China's contributions to transform the world order.

Eritrea is one of the world's most oppressive states.

It's frequently criticised by the West for its human rights record, but is geopolitically important for China.

China has a military base in neighbouring Djibouti and is seeking to increase its influence across the fragile Horn Of Africa region.

This article originally appeared on BBC News.

Image via Getty.