Month: June 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.
Chinese ambassador to South Africa Wu Peng together with Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen mark the first shipment of stone fruit to China that will enter the market duty-free. Image via @SAgovnews
In a message to African heads of state gathered in Addis Ababa for the African Union's 39th summit last February, Xi Jinping announced that beginning May 1st, China would implement a “zero tariff” policy for the 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations. The message was clear. The African ...
ICBC Bails on Financing $3 Billion Sengwa Coal Power Plant in Zimbabwe
Environmental groups in Zimbabwe are celebrating the news that China's largest bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), has decided not to fund the controversial $3 billion Sengwa coal-fired power plant. This a milestone decision since ...
In a Contentious G20 Meeting, Foreign Ministers Exchange Jabs About Jabs
Most of the foreign and development ministers from the Group of 20 gathered in Matera, Italy on Tuesday for the organization's first in-person meeting since 2019. China and Russia, however, were among the few who were noticeably absent from the forum. ...
Leading Development Experts Try to Decipher the B3W and Whether It Can Present a Viable Alternative to China’s BRI
There's been a lot of discussion since the Group of 7 countries announced the creation of the new Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative. It is nominally intended to help developing countries build badly-needed infrastructure. But B3W also includes an underlying political objective: presenting an alternative, some ...
If the U.S. is Going to Challenge China in the Infrastructure Space, It Will Have to First Overcome a Lot of Skepticism in the Global South
The Biden administration has made it clear that it wants to directly challenge China's dominance in the Global South in both infrastructure development and vaccine distribution. In addition to facing a formidable competitor who has a significant head start in both areas, the U.S. will also have ...
When It Comes To Mining, Africa and Australia Are the Primary Sources of Key Minerals and Metals for China
China may be trying to transition to a services-led high technology economy that doesn't rely as much on manufacturing but that shift will take years. In the meantime, Chinese factories still need to rely on vast amounts of minerals, metals, and other mining products to bolster their ...
CCP Awards Highest Honor to Veteran Diplomat Who Designed Chinese Policy in Africa
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) awarded its highest honor to veteran diplomat Liu Guijin for his four decades of diplomatic work in Africa. In his role as CCP General Secretary, Xi Jinping on Tuesday gave Liu the Order of July the First medal.
The Diplomat’s Shannon Tiezzi on China and the Global South
While China's ties with Europe, the U.S., Japan, and other wealthy northern countries steadily worsen, Beijing is leaning harder on its relations with states in the Global South. The importance of those ties was on full display over the past week ...
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 ...