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
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 ...
More Chinese Flood Aid to Pakistan
China will provide additional humanitarian aid, including 25,000 tents, to flood-devastated Pakistan, China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Monday. The Red Cross Society of China will also provide $300,000 in emergency cash assistance to the Pakistan Red Crescent Society, Zhao said. The ...
Fox News Blames Biden for China in the Solomon Islands
U.S. concerns about Chinese influence in the Solomon Islands have crossed a notable rhetorical red line: it is now a talking point on Fox News. This turns it from an obscure geopolitical spat to a topic in the mainstream Republican-Democrat culture war. Fox hosted the Republican insider Newt Gingrich ...
South African Anti-Foreigner Campaign Targets Chinese
The worrying escalation of xenophobia in South Africa is reportedly now hitting the country's Chinese community. Under the banner of Operation Dudula ('force out' in isiZulu), protesters marched to the China City mall in Johannesburg to protest the presence of foreigners, whom the movement blames for crime ...
China’s Xinjiang Messaging to the Global South in Action
Diplomats from African and Asian countries are currently on a Chinese government-organized tour of the Xinjiang region. Official Twitter accounts and the Chinese state press provide a glimpse of these diplomats' role in Chinese counter-messaging operations amid ongoing controversy over the mass incarceration of ...
China’s Volleyball Team Takes No Chances
If you were still wondering, after months of lockdowns, China isn't messing around when it comes to COVID-19 protocols. Case in point: the Chinese national women's volleyball team competed in a game against Iran at the Asian Games in the Philippines ...
Japan Pledges $30 billion in Funding at Africa Summit
Japan will extend $30 billion in funding to aid African development. This is the major outcome of the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, which took place in Tunisia this weekend. Speaking virtually, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged funding across several cooperation ...
China Hits Back at TICAD 8
Japanese officials may have tried to downplay their rivalry with China in Africa, but the response from Beijing put the inflamed relationship between the countries front and center. China’s state-owned Global Times sharply criticized the commitments announced at the TICAD 8 meeting in ...
African Development Bank Collaboration Reveals Overlaps Between Japan’s and China’s Goals
A key announcement at TICAD 8 was that Japan will provide $5 billion to the African Development Bank (AfDB) under the fifth phase of the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance for Africa initiative (EPSA) from 2023 to 2025. EPSA is a Japan-led multi-donor platform to ...
How Do TICAD and FOCAC Differ?
While TICAD and the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) hone in on similar areas of cooperation (training, connectivity, infrastructure), their approaches differ in important ways. This article by Peter Fabricius for the South African think tank the Institute for Security Studies lays ...
Questions About China’s Debt Writeoff
While the Chinese government hasn't yet released a full list of the zero-interest loans to poor countries, it will write off, that hasn't stopped some African governments from celebrating. Togo signaled cautious optimism, saying that the write-off will free up funds for ...