Analysis
Diverse voices, unique insights on key issues shaping China’s engagement throughout the Global South.
analysis
Does China’s White Paper on Development Mean Anything for Africa?
In January 2021, China finally published its White Paper on International Development Cooperation. I say finally because – having seen white papers on aid published in 2011 and 2014, some people at least had the expectation that the next in the series would be in 2017! Nevertheless, ...
Amid Rising Instability in a Growing Number of African Countries, the Question of Whether China Will Remain Engaged Looms
One of the original China in Africa memes that still endures today among many people on the continent is that the "Chinese want to colonize Africa" and want to "invade" the continent using a mix of debt traps, trade dependency, and immigration.
B3W and the Democracy Issue
One of the interesting divisions emerging from the Biden administration’s campaign to re-energize the G7 and NATO against China is its attempt to divide the world into ‘democracies’ and ‘autocracies,’ and to insist that the two groups are squaring off against each other as if they’re in ...
B3W vs. BRI
Leaders from the Group of Seven (G7) richest democracies unveiled a highly-anticipated plan over the weekend for how they intend to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative and stem Beijing's growing influence in Africa and other developing regions. The ...
Sanctions and Anti-Sanctions
For those tracking the development (and high-level normalization) of ‘the new cold war,’ this week has been a doozy. U.S. President Joe Biden departed for the G7 summit in Cornwall with a rare bipartisan win in his pocket. His U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, a $250 ...
Biden to Attend G7 Summit With China on His Mind. Africa and Other Developing Regions Need to Brace For What Comes Next.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in the United Kingdom on Wednesday ahead of a three-day G7 summit, where confronting China in various arenas will be among the top issues on the agenda. The President hopes he will be able to rally the ...
Is the Nigerian Twitter Ban Similar to China’s Restrictions on Foreign Social Media Platforms? Yes… and No.
Lawyer Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa is adamant that Nigeria's recent crackdown on Twitter is nothing at all like what authoritarian governments in other parts of the world restrict access to social media platforms. “I do not agree," he said in a story that is widely circulating today on ...
Can the G7 Imagine a Different Relationship With the World?
This week, the prominent Financial Times commentator Gideon Rachman argued that the upcoming G7 summit in Cornwall could be ‘the west’s last chance to lead.’ He acknowledged that the seven rich democracies that make up the group (the U.S., U.K., France, Italy, Germany, Japan, and Canada) have seen ...
Nigeria’s Twitter Ban is a Big Win For China
Chinese officials are no doubt celebrating Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's decision late last week to ban Twitter. The move marked the most important endorsement in Africa to date of Beijing's long-held view on "internet sovereignty." The Chinese have never accepted the ...
Biden’s Chinese Tech Dilemma
This week the Biden administration announced an expansion of a Trump-era ban on U.S. investment in 59 Chinese companies seen as having ties to the Chinese military and surveillance sectors. The announcement is another confirmation of how ex-president Trump’s vision of a U.S.-China rivalry has ...
U.S, China Exchange Jabs Over Vaccine Deliveries to the World’s Poorest Countries
The battle over so-called "vaccine diplomacy" between the United States and China is beginning to intensify as Washington moves closer to finally shipping surplus jabs to developing countries around the world. Foreign policy leaders from both countries issued veiled critiques of ...
With a Second Chinese Vaccine Getting the Nod From the WHO, Pressure Mounts on the U.S. to Get Its Own Vaccine Distribution Drive Going
The World Health Organization granted emergency use approval to Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine, the second Chinese jab to get the global health body's seal of approval. In a statement on Tuesday, the WHO said Sinovac “meets international standards for safety, efficacy, and ...