I was in Berlin this week for a conference on the EU’s relationship with Africa in the context of the continent’s growing ties with external actors, many of whom Europe finds acutely worrying.
The conference eerily landed on the two-year anniversary of the October 7 attack in Israel. I was in Berlin two years ago as well. In the weeks after the attack, one could see how Western powers’ ...
Month: June 2022
Related Posts
Maybe The West’s Pressure on China to Build “High Quality” Infrastructure is Working
A Xinhua headline from Wednesday hints that years of criticism of low-quality Chinese-built infrastructure in developing countries may be having its desired effect. Chinese messaging on these issues used to focus on the speed of delivery or the low cost of construction. ...
Fears of Chinese Predatory Lending in Central Asia
The Chairman of Kyrgyzstan's Council of Ministers, Akylbek Zhaparov, repeated debunked accusations on Wednesday that China seized strategic assets in both Pakistan and Sri Lanka when they couldn't afford to repay their debts. He warned that the same could happen in his Central Asian country unless all debts to ...
UAE’s Ambassador to China Meets With Sinopharm President to Discuss Future Cooperation
The UAE's ambassador to China, Ali Obaid Al Dhaheri, met with the President of Sinopharm, Liu Jinchen, at the embassy in Beijing this week to discuss how the two sides can enhance their current partnership. The Emirates has become a very important ...
Tucker Carlson: China is Colonizing Countries in the Western Hemisphere
Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the most popular cable talk show personality in the United States, is hosting his show from Brazil this week and warning that the "Chinese military is establishing a threatening new beach head" in the country and that the United States isn't doing ...
Q&A: How Will the G7’s PGII Differ from China’s BRI? An Expert Weighs In
Responses to the G7’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII) have run the gamut from enthusiastic approval to strident condemnation. However, many have also raised questions about how the initiative will actually work. While the PGII is currently presented as an ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
The G7’s New Infrastructure Initiative Could Strengthen China’s Global South Game: Experts
The G7’s new Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII), a $600 billion plan to build infrastructure across the Global South and counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), could have the effect of improving how Chinese companies do business and could end up improving the BRI itself, ...
Shock and Dismay in South Africa After Discovery of “Slave-Like” Conditions in Chinese-owned Factory
South Africa's Home Affairs Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, was visibly shaken when describing the "inhumane and unspeakable conditions" in a plastics factory owned by a Chinese national that was raided by security forces on Monday. An informant tipped off immigration authorities that dozens of illegal workers were ...
World Bank: Don’t Blame the Pandemic For the Global South Debt Crisis
Two leading World Bank economists issued a stinging rebuke against policymakers in developing countries who have blamed the worsening debt crisis on the pandemic. "The seeds were sown long before COVID-19," wrote Marcello Estevão and Sebastian Essl in a World Bank blog post ...
Ethiopia Shows Off New Chinese and Turkish Drones
The Ethiopian military showed off what appear to be two newly-acquired attack drones, a Turkish Bayraktar TB2 and a Chinese-manufactured Wing Loong 1. The two drones were spotted in state television coverage of a recent graduation ceremony for ...
Construction of the Chinese-financed Parliament Building in Zimbabwe is Done
After almost five years and $140 million, the new Chinese-financed and built parliament building in Zimbabwe is now ready for use. The building was almost entirely paid for by the Chinese government and provided as a "gift" to Zimbabwe. (THE HERALD)
No Surprise, Chinese State Media Didn’t Think Much of PGII, But They Actually Raised a Few Interesting Points
The Chinese nationalist tabloid Global Times was among the first to launch broadsides against the G7's latest effort to challenge the Belt and Road. Predictably, the paper interviewed several scholars who all discredited the new program, but rather than simply dismiss it, as they often do, they ...
PGII Will Channel a Lot of Private Capital to Developing Countries But What About the Debt?
Even as the G7 was unveiling its new Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII), protesters in the Alpine town hosting the summit were calling for more action on infrastructure-related debt. This debate has recently centered around the impact of Chinese debt, particularly as part of ...