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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When Scholars Talk About How Effective China Is at “Elite Capture” in Africa, This Is It What It Looks Like
In her 2020 book "Shaping the Future of Power," Wake Forest University China-Africa scholar Lina Benabdallah showed how China has been extremely effective in so-called "elite capture" among Africa's governing class. As an academic theory, it's intriguing but often hard to visualize.
Until the U.S. Actually Starts to Ship Vaccines Overseas, Criticism of Chinese Vaccine Distribution Doesn’t Fly With Many in the Global South
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken renewed his criticism of China's so-called "strings attached" vaccine diplomacy around the world during an online roundtable discussion with Japanese media. But the Secretary's comments were not well received among many in the Global South, ...
The Narrative on the Efficacy of Chinese-Made Vaccines is Beginning to Change
Brazil's decision to conduct a real-world experiment that tested the effectiveness of the CoronaVac vaccine made by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac is contributing to a rapid shift in the perception of whether Chinese-made jabs will protect people from either being hospitalized or dying from ...
Chinese Vaccine Shipments to Africa Increase Slightly, But Still Far Below That of Other Regions Around the World
Chinese vaccine deliveries to Africa reached 20 million doses last week, according to the latest tracking report by the Beijing-based Bridge Consulting. Although that figure is up slightly from previous weeks, Africa still lags far behind Asia Pacific (126.5 million vaccines delivered) and Latin ...
New Joint Pakistani-Chinese COVID Vaccine Launches While Hungary Becomes the Latest Country to Sign a Vaccine Production Deal with China
Residents in Pakistan will now have access to a new COVID-19 vaccine that was jointly developed with China's CanSino as part of an effort to relieve acute vaccine shortages. The new PakVac that launched on Tuesday was reportedly developed in Pakistan under the supervision of CanSino executives ...
With a Second Chinese Vaccine Getting the Nod From the WHO, Pressure Mounts on the U.S. to Get Its Own Vaccine Distribution Drive Going
The World Health Organization granted emergency use approval to Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine, the second Chinese jab to get the global health body's seal of approval. In a statement on Tuesday, the WHO said Sinovac “meets international standards for safety, efficacy, and ...
Ghana AG: Chinese Nationals Arrested for Illegal Mining Will Not Be Deported and Will Instead Do Prison Time in Ghana
Ghanaian Attorney General Godfred Dame announced that military forces acting as part of the ongoing crackdown on illegal gold mining known as "galamsey" have detained 45 people, including 10 Chinese nationals. 400 troops from the Army, ...
The Powerful Head of Ghana’s Cocoa Industry Tells Farmers Not to Worry About China’s Entrance in the Market
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Nigeria Emerges as the Newest Front in the U.S.-China Dispute Over Whether Taiwan Should Be Admitted to the World Health Assembly
Nigeria is now at the center of a bitter dispute between the American and Chinese embassies in Abuja over whether Taiwan should be admitted to the World Health Assembly (WHA). The issue erupted late last week when U.S. Ambassador Mary Beth ...
Liberia’s Senate President Shows Engaging China Depends on Acceding to Beijing’s Core Interests Up Front
The recent visit to the Chinese embassy in Monrovia by Albert Chie, president pro-tem of the Liberian Senate, provides an interesting insight into how African stakeholders are proactively telegraphing their acceptance of China's position on sensitive territorial issues like Taiwan, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong among others.











