Day: August 25, 2022
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A Glimmer of Hope in the Middle of a Dark Tunnel
By Lukas Fiala As someone working on international affairs in today’s world, it’s rare to end the week on an optimistic note. Yet, sometimes even the darkest of times offer a glimpse of hope. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s return to in-person ...
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U.S.-China Technology Competition in Africa
African telecom operators have resolutely opposed U.S. calls to stop using Chinese networking hardware. In fact, Huawei, ZTE, and other Chinese tech firms in recent years have significantly expanded their presence beyond networking to mobile money, data centers, and even new ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: Beijing Considering Hosting a Third Belt & Road Forum Next Year
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing is considering hosting a third Belt & Road forum next year, the first time a major BRI event would be convened in China since the beginning of the pandemic. The key question is whether China will relax its strict COVID travel restrictions ...
China’s Lending Will Be Demand-Driven: Ambassador
China will not promote loan-supported projects to the Global South but will be led by recipient country demand. This was one of the takeaways from a recent interview with China’s ambassador to Kenya, Zhou Pingjian. His comments included hints of China's emerging, more cautious ...
Does China Want Africa to “Choose Sides”? Maybe a Little Bit
China often assures African countries that they won’t be made to ‘choose sides’ in a new cold war. However, a recent op-ed by a prominent Africa-focused think tanker makes clear that Beijing increasingly sees the continent as a stage for geopolitical competition. Yao ...
A pedestrian reads a sign at a petrol station in Tacloban City, Leyte province, central Philippines on March 30, 2026. Photo by MARLON TANO / AFP
In response to Iran’s partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the United States has begun implementing a counter-blockade—leveraging naval patrols, sanctions enforcement, and selective interdictions to constrain Iranian oil exports and raise the costs of Tehran’s strategy. Rather than restoring stability, however, this tit-for-tat dynamic is accelerating fragmentation in global ...
IMF Visit Adds Pressure on China to Support Sri Lanka Debt Restructuring
A team from the International Monetary Fund is in Sri Lanka for the second time in three months to discuss debt restructuring amid calls for China to align itself with the country’s other creditors. Sri Lanka’s new President Ranil Wickremesinghe said: "We have ...
TICAD: Japan’s Quiet Challenge to China’s Development Role in Africa
27 and 28 August will see the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) taking place in Tunisia. Japan’s TICAD predates China’s Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and set the template for the continent’s interaction with Asian economic superpowers. However, TICAD is ...
Unpacking China’s Quest for Digital “Discourse Power”
Perceptions in Beijing that Western powers are trying to constrain its influence is resulting in a concerted focus on building a China-led consensus across the Global South. Under the shorthand of ‘discourse power,’ this involves establishing China as an alternative to the United States in fields crucial ...