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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Reports: Authorities Force Beijing Hotel to Mandatory Quarantine After Zimbabwean VP Tested Positive For COVID
Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po newspaper is reporting that the Beijing Wangfujing Legendale Hotel is now under a mandatory 21-day quarantine after a Zimbabwean Vice President, most likely Constantino Chiwenga, tested positive for asymptomatic COVID-19.
Chile, Belarus Poised to Join the Growing List of Global South Countries That Will Produce Chinese COVID-19 Vaccines
China's drive to build manufacturing capacity for its COVID vaccines in countries across the Global South is poised to expand. Talks are now underway to build so-called "fill and finish" facilities in both Belarus and Chile. ...
Major U.S. Conference on Africa Went All Day Without a Single Mention of the Word “China”
The 13th U.S.-Africa Business Summit kicked off on Tuesday with a number of online forums on issues like infrastructure development, COVID-19, and strengthening US investment on the continent. Several senior White House officials, African heads of state, and corporate leaders from both sides are taking part. Remarkably, ...
Zhang Hongming: China’s Strategic Need for Africa in a Time of Great Change
The perception among many stakeholders in the West and across Africa is that China's engagement in Africa is motivated by a need for natural resources and markets for its finished goods. While that may have been true during the early stages of China's presence on the continent ...
Nigeria and the Chinese Debt Trap Myth
The current slump in global oil prices combined with a surge of Nigerian borrowing is prompting a fresh wave of media anxiety related to the country's financial future and specifically whether China will take advantage of the growing instability to seize strategic assets in the event of ...
Pro Tip: Pay Attention to How Hunan Province Is Positioning Itself as China’s African Business Hub
Most people outside of China have never heard of Hunan Province and if they have it's largely because their neighborhood Chinese take-out joint is called something like "Hunan Palace." But not in the China-Africa space. ...
Why the Chinese Embassy in DRC Needs To Take Labor Abuse Videos Seriously
China's ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zhu Jing, is probably hoping that the fuss from the recent emergence of multiple social videos that depict violent abuse of local Congolese workers by Chinese managers will blow over. ...
Two Day U.S.-Africa Business Summit Kicks Off Today As Part of White House Push to Revitalize Trade With the Continent
After years of sitting on the Africa summit sidelines, the United States is getting back in the game with the start of a two-day online business forum that starts on Tuesday. The gathering is organized by the business lobby group Corporate Council on Africa. ...
The U.S. Has a Lot of Ground to Make Up If It Wants to Compete With China and Europe on Trade With Africa
While U.S. corporate and political elites meet virtually this week with African stakeholders to discuss revitalizing trade between the two regions, it's worth noting just how much work there is to be done, especially in relation to Africa's other major trading partners in China and Europe.
The Conservative Argument as to “Why Americans Should be Concerned About Communist China’s Influence in Africa”
The President of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington, D.C. published a scathing column today in the right-wing newspaper Washington Times warning Americans about why they need to be concerned about China's growing influence in Africa. It's ...
Howard French Isn’t Very Impressed With the G-7’s Build Back Better World Initiative
Journalist and author Howard W. French is among the most thought-provoking U.S. scholars on Chinese engagement in Africa and Beijing's rapidly evolving global presence. French recently joined Brookings Institute Senior Fellow David R. Dollar on the Brookings Trade Podcast Dollar & Sense to discuss how ...
76% of All Chinese Vaccine Distributions in Africa Have Gone to Just Four Countries
Chinese vaccine distributions in Africa remain highly distorted, favoring a small group of mostly North African countries that account for 3/4 of all deliveries on the continent, according to the latest figures from Bridge Beijing's independent vaccine tracking report.