Author: Eric Olander
Eric Olander is the co-founder of the China Global South Project, an independent, non-partisan media initiative dedicated to exploring every facet of China’s engagement in Africa. Eric is a fluent Mandarin-speaker and a longtime China-watcher with more than 25 years of journalism experience at many of the world’s leading media companies, including CNN, the BBC, and FRANCE24, among others. He received his undergraduate degree in East African History from the University of California at Berkeley and holds a master’s degree in Chinese Public Affairs from the University of Hong Kong.
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WEEK IN REVIEW: Kremlin Announced Chinese President Xi Jinping Will Visit Moscow
The Kremlin announced Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Moscow, although the Chinese Foreign Ministry hasn’t confirmed it yet. The visit will partly aim to deny growing distance between the allies on the Ukraine conflict, although it is unlikely to change China’s fundamental position. (SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST)
What’s Driving the Steady Decline in Chinese Overseas Development Lending?
There was a time when Chinese lending to developing countries rivaled the World Bank. Those days are now long gone as Chinese overseas development lending has been on a steady downward trajectory.
Scholz Looks to South America to Reduce Germany’s Dependence on Chinese Critical Resources
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has spent the past few days crisscrossing South America in a bid to find alternative sources of critical minerals, notably lithium, that his country's powerful auto industry now relies predominantly on China to supply. Over the weekend, ...
Africa’s Largest Mining Conference Set Against Backdrop of Rising Competition Between China and the West
Attendees at next week's Mining Indaba in Cape Town, Africa's largest mining conference that gets underway on Monday, say they're expecting a new sense of urgency from U.S. and European stakeholders who are keen to find ways of breaking China's grip on critical resources like cobalt and ...
Given How Unreliable Electricity Service is in South Africa, It’s Not Surprising Huawei’s New Power Wall is Generating Buzz
Huawei may be under mounting pressure in the United States, where the government will reportedly expand sanctions against the Chinese tech giant to block all American technology transfers, but in South Africa, it's a totally different story. On the same day ...
State Department Sends Top Official to Asia and the Middle East to Bolster Ties Amid Rising Competition With China
Victoria Nuland, the State Department's under secretary for political affairs and one of Washington's most senior diplomats, arrived in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu on Sunday -- the first stop on a three-nation, week-long tour that also includes Sri Lanka and Qatar. Unlike ...
China’s Debt Relief Offer For Sri Lanka May Not Be Enough to Satisfy IMF, Say Insiders
Sri Lanka's desperately-needed financial lifeline from the International Monetary Fund may be in jeopardy due to an insufficient debt restructuring offer from China, Colombo's largest bilateral creditor. The IMF is requiring that Sri Lanka first receive assurances from its largest bilateral creditors, ...
Indian FM Accuses Opposition Leader of Intentionally Spreading False Information About China Border Issue
Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar accused rivals of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of intentionally spreading false information about the government's handling of the border disputes with China. Jaishankar refuted comments made by Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ...
Dubious Rumor Spreading On Pakistani Twitter Xi Jinping Will Soon Visit
Unsubstantiated rumors started to spread on Pakistani Twitter over the weekend that Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the country and, more specifically, inaugurate a new Chinese-built airport in the port city of Gwadar. There's good reason to be suspicious of this ...
Now It’s the EU’s Turn to Try and Change South Africa’s Mind About Russia and Upcoming Joint Naval Exercises With China
The European Union's top foreign policy official Josep Borrell is the latest foreign dignitary to pass through Pretoria in what appears to be a vain effort to persuade South Africa's international relations minister Naledi Pandor to reconsider Pretoria's stance on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and upcoming joint naval ...
A New Era of U.S. and Chinese Engagement in Africa is Now Underway
This was a big week for both the U.S. and China in Africa as both major powers' new, more robust engagement strategies were on full display. For the U.S., two cabinet secretaries toured the region this week, while Chinese officials in ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: Brazil Warns That Mercosur in Jeopardy if Uruguay Signs a Free Trade Agreement With China
Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira warned that the South American Common Market known as Mercosur is in jeopardy if Uruguay signs a free trade agreement with China. Viera told the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper that if Chinese goods enter the common market via Uruguay, it would "destroy" ...