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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A Chartered Air Zimbabwe Jet Took Off From China to Harare With a “Full Tummy” of Vaccines
344,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines landed in Harare this morning on a charter flight from China. This latest shipment is part of 1.2 million doses purchase made by the Zimbabwean government. In addition to the vaccines, various supplies including syringes ...
Two Events in China and the DR Congo Illustrate Why the Race for Cobalt Supplies is So Important
Soaring demand for electric cars and trucks is sparking a buying frenzy for the critical ingredients used to make the batteries in those vehicles, namely cobalt. Prices for the metal are up 65% this year alone, the highest since 2018, at $53,000 a ton. ...
BlackLivity’s Láikàn (来看) Series Portrays a Nuanced, Complex View of Black Life in China
BlackLivity, the independent community-based media platform dedicated to showcasing Black life in China, launched a new video this week that highlights the site's compelling Láikàn series that provides first-person stories about the African diaspora experience in and about China.
Why Would Burundi Endorse China’s Controversial New Election Law in Hong Kong?
The small landlocked East African country of Burundi reportedly felt so strongly about China's controversial new election law for Hong Kong that it published an enthusiastic endorsement of the legislation and praised Beijing's "wisdom to ensure the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong ...
Asia, Not Africa, Will Soon be Awash in COVID-19 Vaccines Thanks to China’s Worsening Ties With Rivals
Leaders of the four-nation Indo-Pacific coalition known as "the Quad" (short for the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) announced a new initiative after a virtual summit on Friday to distribute one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to countries in Asia, predominantly in the ASEAN region.
Second Batch of Chinese Vaccines to Arrive Today in Zimbabwe
A chartered Air Zimbabwe flight is scheduled to land at Robert Mugabe International Airport in Harare with the second batch of Chinese-made vaccines. The fact that Ambassador Gao Shaochun mentioned in a Tweet that the new jabs have been procured from China indicates that this latest shipment ...
China Donates Vaccines to UN Peacekeepers and International Olympic Committee
China will donate COVID-19 vaccines to the United Nations for use by peacekeepers stationed around the world, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian at the regular press briefing in Beijing on Friday. Zhao did not mention how many doses would be offered or when they ...
With a Reference to Africa, Comedian Bill Maher Warns Fellow Americans “We’ve Lost” to China
U.S. comedian and political commentator Bill Maher issued a scathing indictment of the U.S. and failure to keep pace with China in the 21st Century. "We're not losing," he said on his show Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday, "we've lost." He referenced the BRI and ...
China’s “Global Public Good” Vaccine Pledge Misses the Mark
No one was really sure what to expect from President Xi Jinping's pledge last May to make Chinese COVID-19 vaccines a "global public good." In typical Chinese fashion, there was no explanation of what he meant, instead, Chinese officials for months just kept repeating "
Diversity and Representation in the China Watching Space
This month marks the one-year anniversary of the Black China Caucus (BCC), an organization set up to foster a more inclusive discussion about China. BCC was founded by a group of Black China professionals in the United States with a range ...
Two Fascinating Documentaries on How Chinese Money is Changing Africa
Free Documentary, the independent documentary film distributor, published a pair of very interesting programs on YouTube that explore how Chinese money is changing Africa. The two films were both produced by the South African production house Sabido Productions and do a very good job at representing both ...
China’s Transsion Holds Firm to the Top Spot in Africa’s Smartphone Market
Transsion's dominance of the African mobile phone market remains fully intact despite last year's major economic disruption brought on by the pandemic, according to new data released by the research firm IDC. Transsion's suite of brands (Tecno, Infinix, and Itel) has a commanding 48.2% ...