Related Posts

Xi-Putin Meeting Looms Large As Chinese President Arrives in Uzbekistan

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in a blaze of media attention, especially around his possible meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting could have implications for the Ukraine crisis and beyond. Some Western commentators have read the ‘no-limits’ partnership between ...

India Could Be a Wild Card at the SCO Summit

While a possible Xi-Putin meeting dominates the headlines, another conversation on the SCO sidelines in Samarkand could signal a headache for Western powers. Speculation is mounting that President Xi could also meet with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The recent withdrawal of Chinese ...

China Crows As India Bails on IPEF Trade Pillar

India’s prominence at the SCO summit comes at a delicate moment for the United States as India moves to limit its participation in the new U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). Indian officials said it will not join IPEF’s trade agreement, one of four core ...

Kenya’s New President Flips on China

Kenya and China will “expand relations on infrastructure, agriculture, education – among other broad arrays of issues – for the mutual benefit of our countries,” according to Kenya’s new President William Ruto.  Ruto spoke during a meeting with China’s Special Representative for African Affairs, Liu ...

Kenya’s New President Faces Many Challenges, Including Balancing China

Kenya's new President William Ruto, takes power at a complex time for the East African country. As Kenya's economy creaks under a large debt burden, he also faces numerous regional challenges, including conflict in Ethiopia and terrorism in Somalia.  These challenges ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Revealing Reactions to China’s Festival of Optics

In terms of geopolitical optics, this week was nothing short of a banquet. It served up at least two sets of images that seem to crystallize our historical moment and that will live on in the Wikipedia of history as shorthand for where the world was in 2025.
One is the waves of uncannily synchronized soldiers and a bewildering array of high-tech weaponry gliding down Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue. The ...

Logistics Shift to Mombasa to Hit SGR Profits 

One of William Ruto's first actions as Kenyan president was to reverse a decision made by his predecessor to force logistics operators to use the Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway's inland port in Naivasha for logistics and clearance services.  Ruto said the ...

Galamsey Queen Update: Ghana’s President Digs the Hole Deeper

Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo has poured gasoline on the controversy around the recent re-arrest of En (aka Aisha) Huang, a Chinese national accused of returning to Ghana to engage in illegal gold mining despite being deported four years ago for similar crimes.  The ...