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
China Pledges Upgraded CPEC Cooperation, Calls for Improved Security in Pakistan
Chinese Premier Li Qiang signed thirteen cooperation agreements with Pakistan, including currency swaps, trade agreements, and an upgrade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a prominent Belt and Road Initiative project. A joint statement released today expanded on the cooperation:
Attention Falls on India’s Role at SCO Meeting
Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar surprised many by announcing his attendance at this year’s SCO gathering. India became a full member of the China-centric organization in 2017, but growing tensions with China over the last few years complicated its presence. Jaishankar’s ...
Security Jitters as Pakistan Hosts SCO Meeting
Pakistan is hosting a two-day heads of government meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) starting today amid heightened security concerns following last week's suicide bombing attack against Chinese workers. Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in Islamabad yesterday and was met at the ...
U.S. Official Says China and Russia Blocked ASEAN Summit Statement
An unnamed U.S. official told Reuters that China and Russia rejected a joint statement of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at its East Asia summit in Vientiane, Laos. The summit was dominated by tensions resulting from territorial disputes in ...
Pakistan’s Post-Bombing High-Wire Act
Pakistan’s hosting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Heads of Government meeting on October 15 and 16 is happening as the country is scrambling to contain the fallout of a bombing attack on a group of Chinese engineers on Sunday. ...
Myanmar, South China Sea Dominate ASEAN Summit
Leaders from the ten member countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathered in Laos on Wednesday for an unusually fraught ASEAN summit. Their time in Vientiane is likely to be dominated by twin crises: the civil war in Myanmar and rising tensions ...
Commodities Face Economic, Geopolitical Complications in China
Mixed economic messages from Beijing and complex geopolitics are complicating global minerals and commodities trade. As Chinese markets reopened after last week’s holiday, iron ore prices slid back from a five-year high as the market reevaluated stimulus measures announced last week. Investors ...
Details of Kenya’s New Chinese Loan Emerge
Kenya will use a new loan from China to advance work on 16 different road projects, said a senior Treasury official. Kenya signed a new $279 million loan agreement with China Development Bank on the sidelines of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in September. ...
“No Clear Evidence” that Vietnam Facilitates Chinese Exports to the U.S.: IMF
An investigation by the International Monetary Fund has found no clear evidence that Vietnam is used as a waystation to facilitate Chinese imports to the United States. The study examined backward trade linkages with China in Vietnamese exports to the United ...
Vietnam Names China in Protesting “Brutal” Attack on Fishing Crew
Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry blamed Chinese law enforcement for a violent attack on a Vietnamese fishing crew in the disputed South China Sea on Sunday. Ten fishers were reportedly beaten with metal bars, and about $20,000 worth of equipment and fish were taken in ...
Indian Army Chief Downplays Border Thaw
As media speculation about warming relations between India and China mounts, it seems that not everyone is fully on board. Notably, the head of the Indian armed forces apparently tried to temper expectations on Tuesday. Speaking at the Chanakya Defence Dialogue, ...
Fishing Boat Attack Raises China-Vietnam Stakes
Anger is growing in Vietnam following an attack on a Vietnamese fishing boat off the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. Both China and Vietnam have territorial claims on the region. About ten sailors were injured when a reported 40 people ...