Day: May 10, 2023
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Of Choke Points, Copper Mines and China
By Chris Alden and Alvaro Mendez The Panama Canal has run nearly dry. Or to be more exact, the artificial lake that serves as a staging site for ships coming into the canal from the Pacific Ocean is so depleted after ...
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South China Sea Crisis and ASEAN’s Quiet Diplomacy
At the maritime symposium this week in Hainan, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi warned against a “bloc confrontation” approach to solving disputes, alluding to the Philippines, the United States, and Japan’s growing complaints about the brewing tension in the South China Sea. On October 22, two Chinese ...
What the Past Tells Us About the Future of the BRI
There's a widely-held perception in many parts of the U.S., Europe, and India that debt and geopolitics have led to the demise of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). But a landmark new study from AidData proves otherwise, revealing not only ...
China’s Two-Pronged Response to War in the Middle East: Officially Stay Neutral, Unofficially Blame U.S./Israel
China is under mounting international pressure to articulate a more forceful response to the war between Israel and Hamas that started over the weekend. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning faced a barrage of questions from both domestic and international journalists at ...
U.S. Senate Trip to Beijing Swivels to Iran and Mideast After Hamas Attack on Israel
A trip by U.S. senators to China originally aimed at smoothing bilateral tensions and trade disagreements pivoted heavily toward Iran on Monday, after the Tehran-backed group Hamas killed hundreds of Israelis in a surprise attack over the weekend. ...
China’s One-Sided Coverage of the Gaza War: “In Beijing, Only the Palestinians Suffer”
Chinese television coverage of the early stages of the war between Hamas and Israel appears to focus disproportionately on the suffering of Palestinians and very little on the victims of the fighting in Israel. Phil Cunningham, creator of ...
Contrasting Views on Whether Iran Will be Able to Continue Selling Oil to China
China's independent oil refiners, known as teapots, are betting that the U.S. won't crack down on Iranian oil shipments for fear of pushing up prices. While higher gas prices in the U.S. are always very sensitive, particularly in the run-up to ...
Michael Pettis Explains How China’s Changing Economy Will Impact the World
China's economy emerged from the pandemic much weaker than before. Unemployment is up, exports are down and a burgeoning property crisis is having a devastating impact on local government finances. These changes in the economy ...
Breaking the Taboo: How Multilateral Development Banks Can Participate in Debt Relief
By Marina Zucker-Marques and Kevin P.Gallagher For three long years now, the Group of 20 (G20) Common Framework has been unable to put debt-distressed countries on a path toward debt sustainability and development. The Common ...
China and the Philippines Navigate Tricky Mix of Warm Economic Ties and Icy Politics
While the dispute between China and the Philippines around territorial claims in the South China Sea keeps escalating, economic relations between the two are “business as usual.” However, the growing disagreement could cause economic complications for Manila. The current fight centers around a WWII-era warship, ...
The U.S. is Popular in Southeast Asia, But Chinese Influence Isn’t Going Away: Study
While the United States is generally more liked among populations in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, they see China as the pivotal economic power in the region. This was one finding of a newly compiled opinion survey tracking popular and elite views published ...
Reminder: China Will Be Central to Clean Tech Supply Chains for a Long Time
Financial Times published a fascinating rundown of China’s ongoing centrality in the mining and refining of critical minerals. These minerals, which include lithium, cobalt and nickel, are key to many clean energy applications, from e-vehicle batteries to wind turbines. China’s investments in ...
Backgrounder: How India-China Relations Are Shaping Multilateral Bodies
India and China's fractious relationship reaches far beyond their disputed border. It influences politics in countries like the Maldives, where candidates in the upcoming presidential election are frequently defined according to their China/India alignment. The tensions are also reshaping multilateral organizations. India ...
Why a Chinese Province’s Trade Plans Could Be a Game-Changer for Africa
“The United States is ‘all in’ on Africa’s future.” This was the line from President Joe Biden at the U.S.-Africa Business Forum in December. This linking of Africa and “future” is a tic of our time. It play-acts inclusivity while deftly stepping past the fact that ...
U.S. Seeks to Bolster Ties in the Caribbean to Fend Off Chinese Advance
Top diplomats from China and the U.S. were in the Caribbean at the same time in what's widely seen as the newest front in the escalating geopolitical competition between the two major powers. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in
New Half-Billion Dollar Deal Aims to Position Angola’s Lobito Corridor as Main Gateway for Africa’s Critical Resources
The competition for access to critical metals used to manufacture electric vehicle batteries intensified with the announcement that Trafigura, a Singaporean-based commodity trading giant, is going to lead a consortium of European companies to rebuild a rail line poised to become one of Africa's most important logistics corridors. ...
The U.S. Helped Coordinate and Finance the New Lobito Corridor Deal
A Tweet by Amos Hochstein, the Biden administration's lead on infrastructure initiatives in developing countries, was the only indication last week of any U.S. involvement in the deal to rebuild the Lobito corridor in Angola. But behind the scenes, the U.S. ...
Chinese Mining Company Launches Africa’s First-Ever Lithium Processing Facility in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe became the first country in Africa to process locally-mined lithium with the opening of a new Chinese-owned refining facility outside of the capital Harare. Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe, a unit of the Chinese mining giant Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, formally commissioned the ...
Timing of China’s New Germanium Export Restrictions Couldn’t Be Better for the DR Congo
China's announcement this month that it would limit the export of two metals used to manufacture semiconductors and other defense technologies could provide a huge opportunity for DR Congo's state-run mining company Gécamines which is planning to open a new mining facility for one of those resources.
Wagner Mercenaries Bail Out Chinese Miners Amid Uncertainty Over the Group’s Future in the Central African Republic
A group of Russian mercenary soldiers part of the controversial Wagner Group reportedly came to the rescue last week of Chinese miners in the Central African Republic (CAR) who had come under attack by local militias. Specific details of what happened ...
Indian FM Jaishankar Takes Veiled Swipe at China During Africa Tour
India's top diplomat S. Jaishankar issued a subtle yet direct criticism of China's engagement in Africa during a recent tour of Zanzibar and Tanzania. "Unlike some other countries," he told a meeting of the Indian diaspora community in Dar es Salaam, ...
The U.S. Has Got to Find a Better Way to Talk About China
Apparently, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan seems to think the best way to counter China's surging influence in the Middle East is to propose building a massive railway that will connect the Indian sub-continent to the Middle East via Persian Gulf states.
The World Bank and the IMF Are Not Aligned on China’s Response to Global South Debt Crisis
Just a few days after International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said real progress is being made in unblocking the impasse between China and developing countries over debt relief, her counterpart at the World Bank, David Malpass, conveyed a very different message on Bloomberg Television.
China Observes But Doesn’t Participate in Sri Lanka’s Inaugural Debt Meeting
Sri Lanka's major bilateral creditors convened their first meeting on Tuesday, but the country's largest bilateral lender, China, was in the room but only as an observer. “If China decides to participate, we would welcome it,” Masato Kanda, Japan’s vice minister ...
Power Minister Warns That West Pakistan Will Turn to China if IMF Financing Doesn’t Come Through
Pakistan's Power Minister Dastgir Khan issued a blunt warning to the U.S. and other Western countries that if they want to keep Islamabad from becoming even more closely aligned with China, they need to make sure that an IMF rescue deal gets signed.
Taiwan, South China Sea and Other China-related Issues Loom Large at ASEAN Leaders Summit in Indonesia
Mounting concerns over Taiwan and maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea figured prominently on the opening day of a Southeast Asian leaders summit in Indonesia. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said on Tuesday that he plans to raise the ...
Chinese Auto Exports Surge as PRC Brands Gain Traction in Global South
Chinese auto exports around the world jumped 70% in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period last year, according to new customs data. And it appears that Chinese auto manufacturers are earning more from each ...
IMF, World Bank Losing Patience With China Over Debt Relief Standoff
China's ongoing stand-off with multilateral lenders over debt relief terms for developing countries will be a prominent issue at International Monetary Fund and World Bank's annual week-long gathering known as the Spring Meetings that get underway on Monday in Washington, D.C. ...
Brazil’s Lula Heads to China With a Ukraine Peace Proposal That’s Effectively Dead on Arrival
Brazilian President Luiz Inàcio Lula da Silva had hoped to arrive in Beijing on Tuesday with a plan to present to Chinese President Xi Jinping that would end the conflict in Ukraine. Lula dispatched a special envoy to Kyiv last week ...
How Important is China’s New Role as Mideast Mediator? Depends Who You Ask.
The smiles and awkward handshake among the foreign ministers from China, Saudi Arabia and Iran last week in Beijing that finalized a once-improbable reconciliation between the two Persian Gulf rivals triggered another wave of analysis by scholars around the world about the significance of China's role as ...
Amid Twin Political and Economic Crises, Tunisia Turns on West and Announces Intent to Join BRICS
The Tunisian government angrily pushed back against both the International Monetary Fund and the European Union over how to resolve the North African country's twin economic and political crises. President Kais Saied bluntly told the IMF on Friday that he ...
Does the Private Sector Matter to Xi’s Foreign Economic Policy?
Elisa Gambino, Global Development Institute On Monday, Xi Jinping visited national political advisors from the China National Democratic Construction Association and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce who are attending the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: Japan Will Upgrade Ties With ASEAN Later This Year To “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership
Japan will upgrade its ties with the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN later this year to a "comprehensive strategic partnership" -- joining both the United States and China at this level. Tokyo is moving quickly to strengthen its ties in the region in response to heightened tensions with China and ...
China vs. the Multilateral Development Banks
There was a major breakthrough this week in China's months-long standoff with the World Bank, IMF and other multilateral creditors when Beijing agreed to fully back Sri Lanka's debt restructuring. The move now clears the way for Colombo to secure $2.9 ...
It’s Getting Tougher for African Students to Get a PhD in China
Thousands of African students are back in class again in China following a three-year absence due to the pandemic and Beijing's strict COVID Zero travel restrictions. But doctoral students from Africa and elsewhere are confronting ...
Is Turkey Serious About Its Recent Criticism of China?
By Buğra Süsler Last December Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu held an end-of-year press conference to review the year’s foreign policy developments and Turkey’s relations with the world. A highlight of this conference was his exceptionally open criticism ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: First Shipment of Australian Coal in Two Years Will Soon Be Offloaded in China
The first shipment of Australian coal in two years will soon be offloaded in China, offering evidence that trade ties between the two countries are thawing. The shipment is anchored off the Chinese port of Zhanjiang, a major steel hub. China imposed a block on trade with Australia ...
South Africa, China and Russia to Conduct Joint Naval Exercises
Russia, China and South Africa will conduct trilateral naval exercises in South African waters from 17-24 February. The three navies conducted similar exercises in 2019, and China-Russia exercises took place in the East China Sea in December. The exercises will include force ...
China’s Middle East Approach Probably Won’t Change Soon: Expert
Following President Xi Jinping's visit to Saudi Arabia late last year, many speculated that China was aiming to replace the U.S. in the region, not least because U.S.-Saudi relations are currently quite frosty. However, the China-Middle East expert Andrea Ghiselli recently ...
Chinese Arrivals Feted at Bangkok Airport
In a striking demonstration of how central Chinese tourism is to Southeast Asian economies, travelers arriving from a reopening China were literally applauded as they disembarked in Bangkok this week.
China’s Wolf Warrior Defanged
China’s most prominent Wolf Warrior diplomat, Zhao Lijian, has been moved from his previous position as Foreign Ministry spokesperson to a new post as Deputy Director of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs. While the shift is technically a lateral move,
A Taliban security personnel operating an anti-aircraft gun keeps watch for Pakistani airstrikes near the Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Nangarhar province on February 27, 2026 following overnight cross-border fighting between the two countries. Photo by AIMAL ZAHIR / AFP
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif declared "open war" against Afghanistan on Friday amid a surge of fighting between the two South Asian neighbors. Pakistan said it's retaliating against Afghanistan for a series of attacks, including a suicide bombing in early February that killed at least 36 people ...
The U.S. Has Got to Find a Better Way to Talk About China
Apparently, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan seems to think the best way to counter China's surging influence in the Middle East is to propose building a massive railway that will connect the Indian sub-continent to the Middle East via Persian Gulf states.
The World Bank and the IMF Are Not Aligned on China’s Response to Global South Debt Crisis
Just a few days after International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said real progress is being made in unblocking the impasse between China and developing countries over debt relief, her counterpart at the World Bank, David Malpass, conveyed a very different message on Bloomberg Television.
China Observes But Doesn’t Participate in Sri Lanka’s Inaugural Debt Meeting
Sri Lanka's major bilateral creditors convened their first meeting on Tuesday, but the country's largest bilateral lender, China, was in the room but only as an observer. “If China decides to participate, we would welcome it,” Masato Kanda, Japan’s vice minister ...
Power Minister Warns That West Pakistan Will Turn to China if IMF Financing Doesn’t Come Through
Pakistan's Power Minister Dastgir Khan issued a blunt warning to the U.S. and other Western countries that if they want to keep Islamabad from becoming even more closely aligned with China, they need to make sure that an IMF rescue deal gets signed.
Taiwan, South China Sea and Other China-related Issues Loom Large at ASEAN Leaders Summit in Indonesia
Mounting concerns over Taiwan and maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea figured prominently on the opening day of a Southeast Asian leaders summit in Indonesia. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said on Tuesday that he plans to raise the ...
Chinese Auto Exports Surge as PRC Brands Gain Traction in Global South
Chinese auto exports around the world jumped 70% in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period last year, according to new customs data. And it appears that Chinese auto manufacturers are earning more from each ...