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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As Ghana sinks into debt distress, many are looking to Zambia’s debt restructuring process for clues on how China will feature. Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema provided a glimpse into his government’s thinking about Chinese debt at a Council on Foreign Relations event ...
It’s China, Not Africa That Could be Facing a Debt Trap: Report
At 12% of Africa’s total external debt, China didn’t cause the current wave of debt distress hitting the continent. But the crisis presents Beijing with a dilemma: should it strongarm these countries to get its money back or trade economic losses for diplomatic gains? ...
U.S.-Africa Summit Strengthened Relationship but Didn’t Revolutionize It
As the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit wraps up today, one is struck by a paradox: while several notable new deals were announced, the summit as a whole has been slightly underwhelming. The United States seemed determined to combat two interrelated narratives. First, ...
Chinese State Media Strident on Summit
While the Chinese public seems disinterested in the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit, China’s state media is rolling out the invective. The state-owned nationalist tabloid Global Times published two highly negative articles dismissing the summit. In ...
African Media Largely Indifferent to Summit
The U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit has drawn very little media attention in Africa. The coverage that appeared was rehashed copy from international news agencies. Very few publications focused on how the outcomes will affect their home countries. This lack of domestic framing ...
Oh, the Talking Points: Why It’s Sometimes Better When U.S. Officials Leave China Out of the Africa Conversation…
At the outset of the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit, one message was clear: African countries hate being made to ‘choose sides’ between the U.S. and China. So, U.S. officials were determined to avoid the appearance of making them do so. That meant steering away from China-related discussions as ...
That Viral Clip of Indian and Chinese Border Fighting Isn’t What It Seems
A video clip purporting to show last week's border clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers is going viral online. However, the news program India Today showed that the footage was actually shot during an earlier skirmish along the Line of ...
What Actually Happened in the China-India Border Fight Last Week?
Last week's violent border skirmish between Chinese and Indian soldiers sent the already frosty relationship into the deep freeze. However, much still remains unknown about the incident and its wider implications. Ananth Krishnan, the Beijing correspondent for ...
Chinese Social Media Largely Ignores U.S.-Africa Summit
While the state media reaction in China to the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit has been predictably negative, Chinese social media has largely ignored the event completely. China Global South Project China editor Han Zhen wrote: “Nowadays, most Chinese media outlets are very ...
U.S.-Africa Summit Showcases New Biden Strategy, Amid Republican Complaints
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris opened the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit yesterday with an optimistic message focusing on Africa’s youth. President Joe Biden is scheduled to join the summit today, and his administration has leaned into new cooperation initiatives. These include an additional $100 million to expand the Obama-era Youth African Leaders ...
Critical Report from African Think Tank Name-Checked in Beijing’s Response to Summit
While the Biden administration is trying to steer discussions of its Africa summit away from its geopolitical competition with China, the opposite is true in Beijing. At a press briefing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin framed the summit as a geopolitical tool:
Chinese Press: The U.S.-Africa Summit is All About China
The Chinese press and think tank coverage of the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit is echoing the geopolitics-focused response from the Foreign Ministry. China’s state-owned nationalist tabloid Global Times set the tone by arguing that the summit is a continuation of Trump-era “America First’ approach, saying that “whether the ...