Author: Cobus van Staden
Dr. Cobus van Staden is an accomplished scholar, journalist, and think tank analyst with more than 20 years of experience in Africa and Asia. Previously, he was the senior China-Africa researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) in Johannesburg. Cobus completed his Ph.D. in Japanese studies and media studies at the University of Nagoya in Japan in 2008. He focused on comparisons of Chinese and Japanese public diplomacy in Africa during postdoctoral positions at the University of Stellenbosch and the SARCHI Chair on African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy at the University of Johannesburg before joining the Department of Media Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2013. His academic research focused on media coverage of the China-Africa and Japan-Africa relationships, as well as the use of media in public diplomacy in the Global South.
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Chinese Contractor Completes 105km Railway Upgrade in Namibia
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African Ambassadors Tour Xinjiang to See “Happy Life of Local Residents”
China’s use of diplomatic junkets to justify its anti-Uyghur measures in Xinjiang to the Global South are ratcheting up again. Ambassadors and other senior diplomats from Senegal, Benin, Mali, Rwanda, Madagascar, Malawi, Uganda, Lesotho and Chad visited the region on Thursday. Judging by Global ...
China, World Bank Spar Over Who’s to Blame For Delays in Zambia Debt Relief
A major philosophical difference is emerging as a hold-up to Zambia’s much-needed debt relief. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning recently said the key to easing Zambia’s debt burden “lies in the participation of multilateral financial institutions and commercial creditors in the debt-relief efforts.” ...
Top State Department Official Says China’s Debt Relief Offer to Sri Lanka is “Not Enough”
Another senior U.S. diplomat has accused China of not doing enough to resolve Sri Lanka’s debt renegotiation, a sign that the island’s financial crisis is increasingly being framed geopolitically. U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland said: "What China has offered ...
Why Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s Hot Take on Chinese Debt in Africa Is So Problematic
In a recent interview, the U.S. ambassador to the UN (and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa) weighed in on China's role in African debt distress in terms that could be described as 'blinkered' at best ('disingenuous' is another possibility):
China Blocked Kenya From Getting Competitive Bids to Build Costly Railway, Supreme Court Told
Kenya’s Supreme Court hearings into the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) deal are revealing a deal tainted by collusion between Chinese and Kenyan actors. The account emerging from testimony shows that the deal defied oversight from the start. COMPETITIVE BIDDING: Financing depended on China ...
China Ramps Up Brazilian Corn Imports
A ship carrying 51,200 tons of corn became the first Brazilian vessel to dock at Jiangyin Port on the Yangtze River, with ships from the agricultural giant delivering 2.4 million tons of grain in total. The delivery comes as Brazil (the second largest corn exporter in the ...
Angolan Police Arrest 8 in Raid on Chinese-run Bitcoin Mining Operation
Eight Chinese nationals were arrested and servers and other equipment were seized by Angolan authorities during a raid on a Chinese-led illegal bitcoin mining operation hidden in a brick factory in Kwanza Norte Province. (AFRICAN OVERSEAS CHINESE NEWS - in Chinese)
China on Debt: It’s Not Us, It’s You
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning pushed back against recent allegations by senior Western officials that China is holding back debt restructuring in Zambia. Citing recent statistics from the Zambian government, Mao pointed out that Zambia’s debt burden is predominantly Western, with 24% to (Western-led) multilateral institutions and 46% to (mostly ...
China-Argentina Call Reveals Closer Ties
China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang held a phone conversation with his Argentine counterpart Santiago Cafiero, the newest sign of the two countries’ increasing closeness. Argentina is a champion of closer cooperation between China and Latin America and plans to join the BRICS bloc. ...
U.S. Panic About Chinese Land Grabs Echoes Africa
Recent reports in the right-leaning press in the United States claim that China is escalating purchases of American farms. This drumbeat is partly in support of the proposed Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security (PASS) act. The bipartisan measure would block investments in U.S. agriculture from China, Russia, Iran and ...