Month: April 2021
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Beijing and Taipei: The Latin American Geopolitical Connection
By Dr. Alvaro Mendez Some observers insist that the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) presence in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is not geopolitically motivated. I acknowledge that Chinese foreign policy may be driven currently mostly by economic, diplomatic, and ...
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WEEK IN REVIEW: Kenya’s Monetary System Struggling Under the Weight of Chinese Debt Servicing Obligations
The demands of servicing debts, largely to China, are weighing heavily on Kenya's monetary system. The shilling dropped again in Monday trading and the central bank reported that foreign exchange reserves have plunged by $899 million over the last three months. Analysts say beyond the hundreds of millions ...
Chinese Involvement in the “Congo Hold-Up” Corruption Scandal
19 media outlets together with five NGOs in the U.S. and Europe pored through 3.5 million leaked documents from a Gabonese bank to produce Congo Hold-Up, a landmark report that detailed breathtaking corruption in the DR Congo during ...
In a Potentially Troubling Development for Africa, Sinovac Did Not Perform Well in Early Test Against Omicron Variant
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) found that people inoculated with two doses of Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine did not produce sufficient detectable levels of antibodies needed to fend off the new highly-infectious Omicron variant.
Sinovac’s Limited Distribution in Africa May End Up Being a Blessing if Omicron Spreads
Distribution of Sinovac's CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine remains relatively limited in Africa, according to data from Bridge Consulting's weekly vaccine tracker report. So, if the vaccine is not able to effectively counteract the Omicron variant, the overall impact will be limited.
Graph via Foreign Affairs, based on Arab Barometer data
Worry about the Trump administration’s decision-making is leading the public around the world to see China as an increasingly attractive counter-option. This is the main takeaway from three large public opinion polls released recently. The annual Gallup poll of 130 countries is the largest of ...
COVID and the Emerging Global Landscape
This week saw a small, but notable indicator in my corner of the global COVID landscape. South Africa announced that it will import 10 million doses each of China’s Sinopharm and Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines. South Africa is hardly the first country in the Global South to ...
How Can China Support Vaccine Deployment in Zimbabwe?
Notorious for its hyperinflation, and its status as the 10th most fragile country on the Fragile States Index, Zimbabwe is perhaps one of the last countries you would have expected to be proactive in vaccination rollout. Yet, not only was ...
The Pushback Against China’s Coercive Diplomacy
Although China has successfully leveraged its strengths in COVID-19 vaccine production to replenish its reservoir of goodwill in many developing countries, elsewhere Beijing is facing growing resistance to its increasingly assertive foreign policy agenda. The ...
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 ...
Blinken Warns of Chinese Debt Traps and Imported Labor in Q&A With African Youth
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken resuscitated widely debunked theories about debt traps and imported labor to warn African countries about the dangers of working too closely with Beijing. His comments on Tuesday provide the most detailed ...