Day: April 29, 2021
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France Watches FOCAC 8 With Skepticism
Coverage of this week's FOCAC 8 in the French media is considerably higher than in previous years, most likely because it's taking place in Senegal -- a francophone country that Paris has long viewed as in its traditional sphere of influence. ...
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On the Eve of FOCAC, China Publishes White Paper That Details Ties With Africa
The Chinese government laid out an ambitious blueprint for its ties with Africa detailed in a 36-page white paper published by the State Council (China's equivalent to the cabinet in the U.S.) on Friday, just two days before the opening of the eighth FOCAC ...
Gyude Moore Reflects on China’s New White Paper and Weighs How African Stakeholders Should Respond
The release of the White Paper on Friday provoked a lively discussion online among scholars and analysts. W. Gyude Moore, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C., and a prominent Africa-China observer weighed in with a lengthy, nine-part Twitter thread:
China’s Critics Are Piling On Over the Entebbe Airport Story, Even the Originator of the “China Debt Trap” Meme
The online flurry over the Entebbe Airport story is drawing out commentators and critics from all sides of the debate, including the New Delhi-based author and analyst Brahma Chellaney, the man who first coined the phrase "debt-trap diplomacy." ...
The U.S. State Department Has All But Abandoned the Chinese “Debt Trap” Line, But Pentagon Officials Haven’t
One of the many differences between the Biden State Department and that of his predecessor Donald Trump is that today's U.S. diplomats rarely make any public reference to Chinese "debt traps," very common taking point just a couple of years ago. Inside the State Department, a number ...
Millions of Leaked Bank Transactions Reveal Massive Corruption by the DR Congo’s Former President Kabila, Some Linked to Chinese Entities
A pair of blockbuster investigations have been published this month by separate organizations in France and the United States that detail how millions of dollars were illicitly siphoned out of the country by the former DR Congo president Joseph Kabila and his allies, including millions from Chinese ...
Former U.S. Diplomat Peter Pham Draws China’s Ambassador to the DRC Into a Twitter Feud
Long time Twitter rivals J. Peter Pham, a U.S. diplomat during the Trump administration and a vocal critic of China in Africa, and China's ambassador to the DR Congo, Zhu Jing, squabbled again over the weekend after Pham tagged the ambassador personally in a critical post related ...
Ethiopia’s Civil War Isn’t Slowing Construction of the Chinese-Financed and Built Africa CDC HQ
China's Ambassador to the African Union, Liu Yuxi, led a topping-out ceremony on Friday of the new headquarters of the Africa Center for Disease Control in Addis Ababa. The event marked the completion of the first phase of the project, which
Bad Journalism and a Poor Understanding of International Contractual Law Triggers Uproar in Uganda Over Chinese Loans
Officials from both the Chinese and Ugandan governments took to Twitter over the weekend to furiously denounce a report published late last week in the Daily Monitor newspaper, which erroneously claimed that China will seize the Entebbe International Airport as a result of defaulting on ...
FOCAC is Now Underway in Dakar. Here’s What to Expect
The eighth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation opened on Sunday in the Senegalese capital of Dakar. It was a rather low-key first day where Chinese and African representatives met as part of the Senior Officials Meeting, which effectively plays a similar role as that of an organizing committee, ...
FOCAC 8: Building Africa-China Relations That Are More Profitable for Africa
This column was written by CORA, the Collective for the Renewal of Africa, based in Dakar. CORA brings together over 100 researchers and scientists, writers, and artists from across Africa and the diaspora. The Africa-China Summit currently taking place in Dakar will close ...
Sudan and China’s Evolving Non-Interference Policy in the Global South
By Lukas Fiala and Hugo Jones, China Foresight LSE IDEAS Scenes of chaos reached us from Sudan this week, as a fragile power-sharing agreement collapsed. On 25th October, merely weeks after a failed coup attempt, Sudanese generals toppled the civilian-led government that had ...
Week in Review: Sudan Coup, Glasgow Climate Summit & G20 Debt Relief
This week Eric & Cobus discuss the Chinese response to the military coup in Sudan and how it differs from Beijing's reaction to September's coup in Guinea. Plus, Cobus explains why he's not optimistic about the outcomes for developing countries from ...
Week in Review: Sanctions, Supply Chains & Security
Three robbery-hijackings in a week have put South Africa's Chinese community on edge. The latest incident occurred last week in the Humewood area of Port Elizabeth where like the previous two incidents an ethnic Chinese driver was forced off the road and robbed at gunpoint. The assailants also ...
The Worst May Be Over For Embattled Chinese Mining Giant Sicomines
The Sino-Congolese mining company Sicomines, which has been under intense scrutiny for the past several months over its 2007 contract with the government, is now communicating with a sense of confidence that gives the impression its troubles with the authorities in Kinshasa may be over.
New Research Reveals China’s BRI Riddled With Corruption, Labor Problems and Billions in “Hidden Debts”
Developing countries along China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) owe nearly $400 billion in so-called "hidden debts," according to a landmark new study published on Wednesday from AidData researchers at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. These newly discovered ...
Looks Like Latin America Will Be the First Place Where B3W Will Take on China’s BRI
It looks like the U.S.-led Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative that was announced at the G7 summit in Cornwall, England earlier this summer is moving forward and Latin America is going to be the first region where Washington aims to challenge China's Belt and Road Initiative. ...
New Report Examines China’s Expanding Role in Multilateral Development Banks
China is increasingly turning to Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to pursue its geopolitical agenda and promote alternate norms of global governance, according to a new report published on Wednesday by the London-based Overseas Development Institute. The report by Chris ...
This Chart Explains Why DRC President Tshisekedi Wants to Renegotiate Those Chinese Mining Contracts
While DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi has said that he wants to review foreign (mostly Chinese) mining contracts to ensure they're more equitable, he hasn't provided any specific explanation for why he's choosing to do so now. There are many theories ...
DRC Cabinet Tasked to Deliver Report on Sicomines in Two Weeks
The DR Congo's equivalent of the presidential cabinet, the Council of Ministers, has been tasked to create a commission to investigate “major legal, technical and financial problems observed in the collaboration agreement” of the $6 billion Sicomines deal between Congo's state mining company and a consortium of ...
ICBC Launches New China-Africa Currency Center in Hunan
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in Hunan province launched a new cross-border China-Africa currency center on Tuesday to facilitate transactions between Chinese yuan and six African currencies including the Kenyan shilling, Nigerian naira, Botswanan pula, Ghanaian sedi, and the Zambian kwacha.
Check Out What Exhibitors Are Selling at This Year’s China-Africa Trade Expo in Hunan
A big part of Chinese trade expos, like the one that's taking place this week in Hunan, is the opportunity to sell stuff... lots and lots of stuff. Thousands of local residents flood the exhibition floor at these fairs to taste ...
Moroccan Police Arrest Uyghur Activist at China’s Request
34-year old Uyghur activist Yidiresi Aishan is now in Moroccan police custody awaiting likely deportation to China after he was arrested earlier this week at Casablanca's international airport. Police say they were acting on an Interpol Red Notice, the international police group's most wanted list, based on a ...
Record EV Sales in China Pushes Up the Price of Cobalt and Other Battery Materials
Chinese car buyers are snapping up electric-powered vehicles in record numbers. In the first half of the year alone, automakers sold 1.2 million new energy vehicles and almost a quarter of a million in June alone.
New BRI Index Reveals China’s Contractors Are Bullish on Building New Infrastructure in ASEAN, Not So Much in Africa
The Chinese state-owned insurance giant Sinosure and the China International Contractors Association released their new BRI Infrastructure Development Index that indicates where they think conditions are best for infrastructure growth. There's a lot of interest in Southeast Asia, much less so in Africa. Respondents ...
What Advice is a Loan Official From China’s Largest Bank Giving to Companies Looking to Invest in Africa?
Now that China has all but stopped large-scale lending for major infrastructure projects in Africa, there's a lot of confusion over what happens next. After all, Chinese lending has been the cornerstone of Beijing's 15+ year engagement strategy on the continent. ...
Uganda to Become the Latest African Country to Receive Vaccines From China
Staff from the Ugandan embassy in Beijing conducted a final inspection of a shipment of 300,000 doses of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine that will arrive in Kampala on Saturday. This is among the first vaccine deliveries from China to Uganda ...
China’s New Ambassador to Uganda is Making the Rounds
China's new envoy to Uganda, Zhang Lizhong, isn't wasting any time becoming acquainted with local stakeholders in Uganda. Just one day after he presented his credentials to President Yoweri Museveni, the new ambassador met with the head of the state-run (and ...
The B3W’s Many ‘Shoulds’
Despite seemingly coming from the same naming tradition that gave us Melania Trump’s Be Best campaign, the Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative is firmly pointed away from the recent past. It seems driven by a new willingness to face the many barriers that shape our current ...
U.S. Leaders Now Seem to Think They’re Finally Well Positioned to Take on China’s Belt & Road
"The Build Back Better World Partnership Could Finally Break the Belt and Road" screamed the headline on the Foreign Policy website today, giving voice to the newfound sense of confidence in the DC policy universe that after years of flailing, the U.S. is finally in a space ...
6 Reasons Why Africa Likes China
A U.S. and European observers often wonder why African leaders have so thoroughly embraced engagement with China despite warnings of predatory lending, cyber espionage and so forth. In many policy circles, there's genuine confusion as to why the Western offer isn't more appealing and largely unable to ...
Concerns Over Sinopharm’s Efficacy Prompts Some in UAE to Over-Vaccinate
Reports that the Chinese-made Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine may be faltering against the onslaught of the Delta variant is prompting some in countries like the United Arab Emirates to re-vaccinate using a stronger vaccine-like Pfizer's. But UAE public health officials are strenuously ...
Namibia Runs Out of Vaccines Just as the Third Wave Hits
Nowhere in Africa is the virus spreading faster today than in Namibia, where the government is running out of vaccines just as infections are spiking. With just 0.8% of the population inoculated, public health authorities have halted inoculations and is using what remains of its supply of ...
2/3 of All Chinese Vaccines Sold or Donated to Africa Have Gone to Just Three Countries
Two-thirds of the 23.8 million vaccines that China has sold or donated in Africa to date have gone to just three countries: Morocco: 9.5 million Egypt: 4.15 million Zimbabwe: 2.4 million This ...
South Africa Turns to Russia and China to Jumpstart National Vaccine Campaign
The South African government confirmed that it will place large orders for COVID-19 vaccines from both Russia and China in an effort to finally gets its faltering vaccination campaign underway. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize told lawmakers ...
Morocco, Egypt, and Zimbabwe Are the Top Recipients of Chinese Vaccines in Africa
Africa is the second-largest recipient of Chinese vaccine donations worldwide but remains the lowest in terms of quantities delivered, according to the latest data from the Beijing-based consultancy Bridge Consulting. But within Africa, Morocco and Egypt have received far more doses than any other country ...
Economist Intelligence Unit: “Western Powers Have Lost the Vaccine Diplomacy Battle”
The battle over vaccine distribution between the U.S./Europe and China or Russia is over before it even started, declared a new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit. "It is likely that the damage to the reputation of Western countries has already been done and will be hard ...
The Chinese Foreign Ministry Responded to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Webinar Where He Talked China-Africa
Antony Blinken probably did not expect that an informal Q&A with alumni of the U.S.-government sponsored Young Africa Leaders Initiative would spark yet another international spat with China. On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian was asked to comment on the Secretary's critical remarks about Chinese ...
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested in Ghanaian Army Crackdown on Illegal Mining
Ghanaian army troops fanned out across the country on Wednesday in a nationwide crackdown on illegal mining in river areas, arresting dozens, including at least two Chinese nationals. The pair have been taken to Accra where they will ...
Conflicting Views in Ghana Over China’s Entrance Into the Global Cocoa Trade
A spirited debate is underway in Ghana over the implications of China's entrance into the global cocoa market. Various commentators, cocoa industry officials, and political leaders have all expressed concern over the past week that China will do to the cocoa market what it's done ...
What the U.S. Apparently Doesn’t Understand About China-Africa Ties
So, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony held a virtual ‘tour’ of Africa on Tuesday with the leaders of Nigeria and Kenya on Tuesday. That it was called a ‘tour’ and not a Zoom or Skype shows everything that was wrong with ...
Debunking Myths About Chinese Labor in Africa
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's comments this week that suggested China imports labor to work on infrastructure projects highlights the incredible durability of one of the oldest myths about Chinese engagement. The reality is there's been a steady decline in ...
Chinese Vaccine Shipments to Africa Pick Up As Beijing Reports 260 Million Doses Delivered Worldwide
Chinese vaccine deliveries to Africa appear to have picked up pace with shipments going to more countries over the past week, according to the latest tracking map produced by CGTN.
UAE to Become First Country Outside of China to Manufacture Sinopharm COVID-19 Vaccines
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi closed out his Persian Gulf tour on Sunday with a major announcement that the United Arab Emirates would become the first country outside of China to manufacture the widely-distributed Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, making the UAE the first country in the region to ...
Key Highlights From Wang Yi’s Six-Nation Tour of the Persian Gulf and Turkey
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi returned home on Sunday after wrapping up a five-day, six-nation tour of the Persian Gulf and Turkey. Wang's visit highlighted the growing importance that Beijing now assigns to its diplomatic ties in the broader MENA arena and its aspirations to play a larger ...
China’s New Agreement With Iran is Important, Just Not That Important Say Experts
This weekend's signing of a highly-anticipated 25-year security and economic cooperation agreement between China and Iran was met with predictable anxiety in Washington and European capitals. The pact, signed by the visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, calls for cooperation ...
Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Washington’s China-Africa Groupthink
This week’s confirmation hearing for Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s to become the next United States ambassador to the United Nations provided a glimpse of how Africa might be dragged into growing tensions between the U.S. and China. Thomas-Greenfield faced hostile questioning about a speech she gave in 2019, ...
Tanzania’s Relationship Status With China: It’s Complicated
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's January visit to Tanzania highlighted the East African country's growing importance to Beijing. It's a strategically located Belt and Road country that has the potential to serve as a major gateway to inland regional markets along ...
A Taliban security personnel operating an anti-aircraft gun keeps watch for Pakistani airstrikes near the Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Nangarhar province on February 27, 2026 following overnight cross-border fighting between the two countries. Photo by AIMAL ZAHIR / AFP
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif declared "open war" against Afghanistan on Friday amid a surge of fighting between the two South Asian neighbors. Pakistan said it's retaliating against Afghanistan for a series of attacks, including a suicide bombing in early February that killed at least 36 people ...
South Africa Turns to Russia and China to Jumpstart National Vaccine Campaign
The South African government confirmed that it will place large orders for COVID-19 vaccines from both Russia and China in an effort to finally gets its faltering vaccination campaign underway. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize told lawmakers ...
Morocco, Egypt, and Zimbabwe Are the Top Recipients of Chinese Vaccines in Africa
Africa is the second-largest recipient of Chinese vaccine donations worldwide but remains the lowest in terms of quantities delivered, according to the latest data from the Beijing-based consultancy Bridge Consulting. But within Africa, Morocco and Egypt have received far more doses than any other country ...
Economist Intelligence Unit: “Western Powers Have Lost the Vaccine Diplomacy Battle”
The battle over vaccine distribution between the U.S./Europe and China or Russia is over before it even started, declared a new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit. "It is likely that the damage to the reputation of Western countries has already been done and will be hard ...
The Chinese Foreign Ministry Responded to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Webinar Where He Talked China-Africa
Antony Blinken probably did not expect that an informal Q&A with alumni of the U.S.-government sponsored Young Africa Leaders Initiative would spark yet another international spat with China. On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian was asked to comment on the Secretary's critical remarks about Chinese ...
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested in Ghanaian Army Crackdown on Illegal Mining
Ghanaian army troops fanned out across the country on Wednesday in a nationwide crackdown on illegal mining in river areas, arresting dozens, including at least two Chinese nationals. The pair have been taken to Accra where they will ...
Conflicting Views in Ghana Over China’s Entrance Into the Global Cocoa Trade
A spirited debate is underway in Ghana over the implications of China's entrance into the global cocoa market. Various commentators, cocoa industry officials, and political leaders have all expressed concern over the past week that China will do to the cocoa market what it's done ...
What the U.S. Apparently Doesn’t Understand About China-Africa Ties
So, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony held a virtual ‘tour’ of Africa on Tuesday with the leaders of Nigeria and Kenya on Tuesday. That it was called a ‘tour’ and not a Zoom or Skype shows everything that was wrong with ...
Debunking Myths About Chinese Labor in Africa
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's comments this week that suggested China imports labor to work on infrastructure projects highlights the incredible durability of one of the oldest myths about Chinese engagement. The reality is there's been a steady decline in ...