Author: Eric Olander
Eric Olander is the co-founder of the China Global South Project (CAP), 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China’s Ambassador to South Africa: Pompeo Stuck in the Cold War With an “Outdated, Zero-Sum Mentality”
China's outspoken ambassador to South Africa, Lin Songtian, held a press conference this week that was broadcast live on South African TV from the embassy in Pretoria. The media briefing was presumably intended to provide updates on China's efforts to contain the COVD-19 outbreak at home and ...
China Loomed Large Over Pompeo’s Africa Tour, Burying His Message About Enhanced U.S. Engagement
U.S. Secretary of State really seemed like he made a conscientious effort to go out of his to avoid referencing China on his recent three-nation African tour that ended yesterday in Addis Ababa. For years, going all the way back to the days when Hillary Clinton was ...
Outrage, Fury and Sadness Over Yet Another Racist Chinese Video Featuring African Children
Chinese and African vloggers are responding with fury and sadness to the emergence of yet another racist video online that purportedly shows an off-camera Chinese producer instructing African children in an unknown country to say racist and demeaning phrases in Chinese.
Rumors of an Infected Chinese Worker in Kenya Persist Despite Embassy Denials
The Chinese embassy in Nairobi's efforts to dispel rumors that a Chinese national infected with COVID-19 bribed his way past health screenings at the airport in Nairobi and made his way to a Sinohydro worksite in southwestern Kenya appear to be failing.
Public Pressure Mounts on African Governments to do Something About Students Trapped in Wuhan
The plight of Kenya's students trapped in Wuhan, China is now a regular topic of discussion on primetime TV news programs adding new public pressure on the government to act. Similarly, hashtags like #NigeriansTrappedInWuhan are gaining popularity as students in Wuhan post increasingly ...
China’s Ambassador to South Africa, Lin Songtian, on COVID-19: “There Is No Need to Panic”
China's outspoken ambassador to South Africa, Lin Songtian, convened a press conference on Tuesday at the embassy in Pretoria to presumably update the media about the ongoing effort to contain the spread of the Novel Coronavirus outbreak. But he didn't reveal much new information, other ...
Chinese State Media Acted Like the Pompeo Visit Never Happened
When the U.S. Secretary of State travels abroad, most independent international news outlets consider it worthy of mention in their daily coverage. But not the Chinese state media. There's not a single news item, not even a brief mention, of Mike Pompeo's visit to Ethiopia on any ...
Maybe Pompeo Avoided Directly Talking About China During His Recent Africa Tour Because There’s Nothing More to Say
On his final stop of a three-nation African tour, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Addis Ababa on Tuesday, where he held talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew, among others. And just as he did in Senegal and Angola,
As Demand in China Falls, Vietnam’s Rice Exporters Encouraged to Look to Africa
Vietnam is the world's third-largest rice exporter behind India and Thailand. Until recently, China was the country's largest export market but trade disruptions and falling demand due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is prompting the Vietnamese to looking further afield for new markets... ...
Chinese Embassy in Kenya Takes to Twitter to Confront Online Rumors
The Chinese embassy in Nairobi is directly confronting an online rumor circulated by Twitter user Robert Alai to his 1.3 million followers that a Chinese worker infected with COVID-19 bribed an immigration officer at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and is now hiding out at a campsite.
Kenya’s Ambassador to China Issues Emotional Plea on Behalf of Trapped Students in Wuhan
Kenya's Ambassador to China, Sarah Serem, issued an emotional statement on behalf of the dozens of Kenyan students who remain trapped in Wuhan, the epicenter of the worsening COVID-19 outbreak: Going through the daily updates of the impact of the coronavirus ...
It Shouldn’t be a Huge Surprise That China is Not Pleased With Pompeo’s Africa Tour
One of China's leading English-language newspapers took aim at Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his ongoing three-nation African tour. In a sharply worded editorial published on Monday, China Daily described U.S. policy as "demeaning" and "arrogant." The newspaper also rebutted ...