An Exchange Between British Lawmakers Highlights How Bad Information About China Makes Its Way Into the Foreign Policymaking Process

Lord David Alton speaking during a virtual hearing of the House of Lords International Relations and Defense Committee.

A virtual meeting of the House of Lords International Relations and Defense Committee in London on Wednesday revealed the extent to which faulty information about China’s engagement in Africa has become embedded in the UK’s foreign policy process.

In a brief 7:36 exchange between Liverpool MP Lord David Alton and the UK’s Minister for Africa and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Vicky Ford, no less than five widely debunked, factually inaccurate tropes were used to frame the conversation (highlighted in red):

  • Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis.
  • Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations.
  • Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South.

China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening.

Subscribe today for unlimited access.

OR

Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More
by Eric Olander

Most Read

1
Developing Countries’ Debt Servicing Costs to China Are Significant, but Nowhere Near as Much as Other Creditors
2 Chinese Military Fans Discuss Why Indonesia Bought Rafale Instead of J-10C
3
Chinese Cargo Planes Secretly Ferrying Supplies to Iran, Claim Online Sleuths
4
Indonesia Goes Nuclear, Taps China and Russia for Modular Reactors
5 Trump’s Contradictory Iran Strategy Leaves U.S. Weaker After War’s End, Says Chinese Commentator
6
Thailand in Last-Minute U.S. Talks as 36% Tariff Looms

You Might Like

It’s Difficult to Overstate Just How Much the “Debt Trap” Accusation Irks Chinese Officials

Wu Peng, China’s top diplomat for sub-Saharan Africa, on Wednesday posted a tweet that featured a week-old video of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari defending his decision to borrow from ...

Why Does Nigerian Representative Ben Rollands Igbakpa Want to Review Almost 20 Years of Loans From China?

Earlier this month, on May 13, Nigerian representative Ben Rollands Igbakpa introduced a motion that was passed by the House calling for an investigation into all of the country’s loans ...

A Chinese Debt Trap in Nigeria? Hardly!

Back in May, the online Nigerian financial news site Nairametrics ran an article with the frightening headline: “Nigeria is falling into China’s debt trap.” This, of course, is nothing ...

Djibouti’s Chinese Debt

On July 15, 2019, Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh, Djibouti’s Minister of Economy and Finance, tweeted to announce that the restructuring of China’s ExIm Bank loan for the construction of the Djiboutian section of ...

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.

More about CGSP