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 Embassy Meets With DRC Ministries About Attacks
The Chinese embassy in the Democratic Republic of Congo convened a meeting this weekend with several Congolese government ministries, including the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Interior, as well as immigration officials and the General Administration of the Police, to discuss ongoing attacks against Chinese residents in ...
China-DRC Military Cooperation?
The Defense Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo met with high-level officials from the Chinese embassy, including the military attache, to discuss possible Chinese support for the development of the DRC’s military industry. This follows the release of ...
Chinese Car Brands Pulling Ahead in South Africa
Chinese car brands like Chery and Haval are outselling traditional favorites like Mercedes Benz and Ford in the South African market. Both brands sold more than a thousand cars in July, far beyond Western competitors. Read more on the News24 ...
China-Global South and the Long Shadow of Empire
Writing is slow on my side today because as someone living in a former British colony, I can't tear myself away from Twitter reactions to the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Even as British Twitter is dominated by stiff-upper-lip memorials, Irish, ...
China’s Record Drought Could Be Bad News for the Global South
China is suffering through its hottest summer in history. Climate change-related heatwaves have dried up rivers, caused urban blackouts, and depressed economic output. It is also triggering long-term anxieties about food security. China’s history of ...
How Will Liz Truss’s Election as the UK’s New PM Affect China-Global South Relations?
Liz Truss’s rise to Prime Minister-elect of the United Kingdom is likely to raise tensions with China and increase Great Power competition in the Indo-Pacific region. Truss won an internal Conservative Party election following the resignation of former PM Boris Johnson. ...
Transsion Keeps its Edge as Economic Downturn Hits African Consumers
Smartphone shipments to Africa have fallen by 7.9% as economic downturns hit consumer wallets, according to new research by the International Data Corporation, a U.S.-based telecom research group. Despite the fall, the Chinese brand Transsion is holding strong as the continent’s favorite smartphone supplier, ...
Tech Companies’ Great Migration Out of China
Apple's recently announced plans to speed up the production of its iPhone 14 in India is just one example of foreign manufacturers trying to lessen their dependence on Chinese factories. COVID-19 lockdowns, rising labor costs, and broader concerns about the future trajectory of ...
China’s Newest Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Makes Her Debut
China's Foreign Ministry's spokespeople have the tricky job of being the human faces of a frequently opaque system. So China nerds were a-Twitter this week following the debut of Mao Ning, the Ministry's newest representative. Mao reportedly spent 27 years in the foreign service ...
Chinese Astronauts Reach Out to African Kids
Three Chinese astronauts are holding a live chat with African youth directly from China's orbiting space station today. The live Q&A session, scheduled for 11:00 GMT, is arguably a powerful soft power play on a continent where youth interest in space exploration and other forms of high-tech development is ...
We Need to Talk About Africa’s Whole Debt Problem – Not Just the Chinese Part
This week I participated in a seminar hosted by the South African Institute for International Affairs comparing the on-the-ground experiences of Chinese-led infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia and Africa (watch the event here). Researchers from opposite ends of the globe revealed ...
India Ramps Up Language on Taiwan as Tensions with China Rise
India has accused China of the ‘militarization of Taiwan Straits.’ The tweet, issued by the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka, is a marked escalation of the combative language between the two and from India’s relatively muted response when U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in early ...