China’s Emerging “African Pawn” Position on Ukraine

TITLE TRANSLATION: The Associated Press analyzes "Why doesn't Africa condemn Russia," African netizens reply: are you okay?

The reluctance by about half of African countries to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is now being leveraged by media outlets closely aligned with the government and the Party as a way to bolster its own position on the issue with domestic audiences.

Two articles in China’s state press, one from the country’s preeminent broadcaster CCTV and the other in the nationalist publication The Observer (观察), frame the Western campaign for support of Ukraine as unwarranted pressure on weak countries to join sides in a faraway conflict.

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by Cobus van Staden

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