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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China’s Jumbled Positions on the Ukraine War Are Going to Complicate Its Diplomacy in Africa
China's newly appointed Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Xue Bing, formally began his new role last week just days before the Russian military began its assault on Ukraine. The timing couldn't have been worse for Xue who is already facing a steep learning ...
BRICS Buck the Rest of the World in Firmly Opposing Russia’s War on Ukraine
In an odd alignment of diplomatic symmetry, the four non-Russian members of the BRICS group have all refused to join the global movement to condemn Russia for its assault on neighboring Ukraine. There's no evidence that any of these countries are coordinating their response with one another ...
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Stadium Diplomacy in Africa is Fashionable Again
Early on in China's engagement in Africa, the Chinese were big on gifting sports stadiums to African governments as part of their soft power diplomatic outreach on the continent. Later, Chinese infrastructure development shifted focus to larger, more conventional projects like bridges, railroads and highways but now ...
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China Donates Surveillance System and Vehicles to Help Protect Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway
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