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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Conservative U.S. politicians and their respective media are focusing more attention lately on Chinese COVID-19 aid in Africa to highlight what they perceive as Beijing's plan to use this current crisis to expand its influence on the continent and around the world.
China Uses a Mix of Old and New Public Diplomacy Techniques to Try and Sway Opinion in Africa on Guangzhou Crisis
Prior to the recent crisis in Guangzhou, China's public diplomacy momentum in Africa looked unstoppable. Dramatic images of planes filled with donations from Alibaba founder Jack Ma were everywhere on state-run media channels, local news outlets, and diplomatic Twitter accounts, and receiving enthusiastic responses from African leaders. ...
The Guardian: Anti-African Discrimination Persists in Guangzhou
Despite repeated assurances by the Chinese government and media that discrimination does not exist in Guangzhou or elsewhere in China, The Guardian newspaper reports that African nationals in the southern Chinese city continue to encounter difficulties that they contend is attributable to ...
Q&A: Chinese Public Diplomacy Efforts in Africa About Guangzhou Aren’t Working. Here’s Why.
For the most part, the Chinese government has been very effective in persuading African political leaders about its version of what happened recently in Guangzhou. Contrary to widely held public perceptions in Africa, fueled in part by provocative videos that purportedly show Chinese mistreatment and abuse of ...
Tweet of the Day: According to China It’s Not OK to say “Chinese Virus” or “Wuhan Virus” but “African Horse Sickness” and “African Swine Fever” is Perfectly Fine
Few issues are more sensitive in China today than referring to COVID-19 as the "Wuhan Virus" or "Chinese Virus" as some U.S. politicians and right-wing journalists choose to do. It miffs the Chinese to no end. If you want to get an immediate shout-down on social media ...
African Calls to Onshore Manufacturing From China Grow Louder but Investors Urge Caution
During a recent speech where he unveiled an R800 billion rescue package to combat the effects of the COVID-19 crisis, South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni also laid out an ambitious vision for what he would like to see once the current crisis ...
Professor: Who Needs “Debt Traps” When China Can Just Buy African Assets on the Cheap?
University of Notre Dame China scholar, Professor Joshua Eisenman, used this month's $221 million equity infusion by the state-owned China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) into the Lekki Deep Sea Port Project currently under construction at the Lagos Free Trade Zone as another point of evidence as to why ...
There’s Growing Concern in the U.S. That Debt Relief for Africa and Other Developing Regions Would Just Help China
There is mounting concern in the United States that calls for debt relief from Africa and other developing regions that have been hit hard by COVID-19 and the subsequent economic crisis will only help those countries to pay back loans to China.
Did Tanzania’s President Really Cancel the Bagamoyo Port Deal with China? Probably Not.
There's widespread speculation circulating that Tanzanian President John Magufuli canceled the controversial $10 billion Bagamoyo port deal with China Merchants Holding International (CMHI). The story surfaced last week after the little-known website "Nairobi Mini Bloggers" website published a post ...
What Does China Need to Do to Improve its Agriculture Assistance Programs in Africa?
China has provided agricultural assistance to Africa for decades. Yet questions are frequently raised as to how its aid in Africa resembles those run by other development actors in terms of project assessment, management, monitoring, and evaluation. Recent developments, such as the establishment of the China International ...
This Is What Twitter Data Tells Us About the Worst Week in China-Africa Relations
Last week, the world witnessed a defining moment in China-Africa relations. Amidst fears of healthcare and economic collapse in Africa, the unified voice of Africans against the reported maltreatment of Africans in China on social media became a forceful agent in diplomatic affairs between the two parties. ...
Tweet of the Day: Chinese Diplomats Do Their Best to Challenge the “Negative Narrative”
China's diplomatic Twitter accounts in Africa are pushing back against the surge of negative news that has emerged both on social and traditional media over the past several weeks. In this particular instance, the Chinese embassy in Kampala challenged a widely circulated interview with ...