One of the weird realities of the current moment is that while we’re seeing much more widespread popular energy behind social justice causes, many of these campaigns seem siloed and isolated from each other. For example, over the last few months we’ve spent much energy tracking the treatment of Black communities in China, and the discrimination they face in cities like Guangzhou. These discussions expanded to include African reactions to these scandals, and many discussions of how anti-Black discrimination in China does or doesn’t overlap with the systemic discrimination Black people face in the United States. 

At the same time – but separately – we’ve written many pieces about complaints from various African communities about Chinese business practices in Africa, including allegations that Chinese mining operations ruined local water supplies in Nigeria, and could do so on a massive scale in Ghana. In the same vein, this week we covered how overfishing by Chinese megatrawlers is endangering coastal economies all along the Gulf of Guinea.