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.
Related Posts
Chinese Gold Miner in Zimbabwe Faces Labor Abuse Allegations — Again
A Chinese mining company in Zimbabwe is under fire for labor abuses. Workers at Odzi Resources Zimbabwe’s gold mine in the Mutare district accuse managers of violence and say operations often breach local laws. They say they have long worked without protective gear, ...
As China Nitpicks Terms, Asia’s Debt Bomb is Ticking…
As technocrats in Sri Lanka and Laos grapple with renegotiating loans to a variety of creditors, including China, the region's creeping debt distress is slowly tipping into a full-blown humanitarian disaster. The situation is the most critical in Sri Lanka, where ...
Debt Trap or Naivety Trap? China’s Road to Global South Debt Distress
Is China's part in Global South debt the result of 'debt trap' machinations, or over-confidence on Beijing's part? The prominent China-focused economist Michael Pettis recently unpacked this issue in a Twitter thread: I've long argued that what others described as "debt-trap diplomacy" ...
China-Pakistan Talks on Post-Flood Recovery Start Amid U.S.-China Sniping
China’s Foreign Ministry clapped back at U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call to Pakistan “to engage China on some of the important issues of debt relief and restructuring so that Pakistan can more quickly recover from the floods.” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin ...
68 Global South Countries Give China Human Rights Cover at the UN
In what’s becoming a standard tactic, China used its support across the Global South to counter a proposal from a U.S.-led group of rich democracies for a special debate in the UN Human Rights Council on China’s anti-Uyghur measures in Xinjiang. The measure followed a recent UN report citing "serious ...
Apple’s Use of India to Limit its Exposure to China Is Part of a Broader Trend
The relocation of a portion of Apple’s iPhone 14 manufacturing from China to India is reportedly going surprisingly smoothly, getting underway weeks ahead of schedule. The move is an example of a wider manufacturing strategy by global brands. Apple ...
U.S. Builds Mineral Coalition to Displace China
The United States hopes to use its rich allies to channel investment to resource-rich countries in order to cut China out of mineral supply chains. The U.S.-led Minerals Security Partnership, which also includes Japan, the EU and others, held a ministerial meeting ...
Getting China Out of the U.S. Battery Metal Supply Chain Easier Said Than Done
The United States's plan to displace China from global mineral supply chains while simultaneously making them more environmentally, socially and governmentally (ESG) sustainable could be a bigger task than U.S government officials would like to admit. The UK ...
How Powerful is China in Zimbabwe? New Report Counts the Ways
The prominent Zimbabwean environmental NGO, the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), published a new policy brief mapping China's influence in key Zimbabwean economic sectors, including extractives, utilities and power. ZELA has been sharply critical of Chinese ...
China Continues Gulf Diplomacy
China’s Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deng Li, met with ambassadors from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries on Monday. Envoys from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and other member countries joined the meeting, which reportedly touched on the ongoing crisis in Yemen, among other (unspecified) topics.
A View of the Belt and Road from Southeast Asia
Western press coverage of China's Belt and Road Initiative is frequently filtered through anxieties about shifts in the West's own international influence. So it's very interesting to watch this new documentary about the BRI by Singapore's state-owned Channel News Asia. It gives equal time to the opportunities ...
China’s Global Development Initiative Meeting Signals Growing UN Influence
China’s Global Development Initiative (announced by President Xi Jinping in 2021) took a massive step towards global influence this week. It got the UN stamp of approval and is being integrated into its development plans like Agenda 2030. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi co-hosted a ...