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The Overwhelming 2024-Ness of It All

In so many ways, 2024 feels like an inflection point — one of those years that carries within it a future yet unformed. The U.S. election is of course the most prominent of these trends. If Donald Trump becomes the Rublican ...

Marcos Says Philippines on ‘Frontline’ of Maritime Disputes With China, ‘Will Not Yield’

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos on Thursday told Australia's parliament his country was on the "frontline" of a battle for regional peace, pledging resolve as he sought support in maritime disputes with China. With Beijing's warships loitering in waters off his country's ...

Lots of Smiles, Lots of Handshakes but Few Tangible Commitments During Sierra Leone President’s China Tour

Sierra Leone's President, Julius Maada Bio, kicked off a five-day state visit to China with a flurry of meetings with Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping. After laying a customary wreath at the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square, 

Huawei and South African Telco MTN to Build Tech Innovation Lab

Chinese electronics giant Huawei and South African telco major MTN signed an agreement on Wednesday to build a "Joint Innovation Technology Lab" that the two companies will use to support African research in AI, big data, and cloud computing, among other things.

Chinese Tea Importers Teach Kenyan Diplomats About Tea

Chinese importers bought almost $8 million worth of Kenyan tea in 2022 and it's a market that offers enormous growth potential for East African growers. But Chinese tastes for tea are quite particular. So, a pair of Kenyan diplomats learned firsthand ...

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 ...

Authorities Close the Darién Gap, Forcing Chinese Migrants Seeking to Cross Into the U.S. to Find New Routes

Colombian law enforcement agencies have shut the dangerous jungle passage known as the Darién Gap that migrants from China and other countries use to illegally cross into the United States. Nearly a million people have crossed the Darién Gap since 2021, including tens ...

BYD Launches Low-Cost Model in Mexico and Will Choose Site for Plant This Year

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer BYD launched its Dolphin hatchback model in Mexico with a price tag around half that of the cheapest Tesla model. Stella Li, president of BYD Americas, stated that the company will choose a site for its new ...