There has so far been a total blackout of any Chinese online discussion, media coverage, and comment from government officials on Zambia’s recent debt default. Neither the embassy in Lusaka nor the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing has commented publicly on the issue.

It’s quite likely that Chinese officials are now preparing a position statement on the issue, which often takes up to a week to complete. We’ll know when that messaging is ready when a Chinese journalist poses a question about it at the foreign ministry’s regular press briefing in Beijing. From there the messaging will make its way out to official media, diplomatic Twitter feeds and so on, with everyone restating the foreign ministry’s position.