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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Three Chinese warships made ports of call in Ghana and Nigeria this month, prompting a new wave of speculation about Beijing's military ambitions in Africa. The PLA Navy visit followed reports that Chinese miners in the Central African Republic were rescued ...
U.S. Seeks to Bolster Ties in the Caribbean to Fend Off Chinese Advance
Top diplomats from China and the U.S. were in the Caribbean at the same time in what's widely seen as the newest front in the escalating geopolitical competition between the two major powers. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in
New Half-Billion Dollar Deal Aims to Position Angola’s Lobito Corridor as Main Gateway for Africa’s Critical Resources
The competition for access to critical metals used to manufacture electric vehicle batteries intensified with the announcement that Trafigura, a Singaporean-based commodity trading giant, is going to lead a consortium of European companies to rebuild a rail line poised to become one of Africa's most important logistics corridors. ...
The U.S. Helped Coordinate and Finance the New Lobito Corridor Deal
A Tweet by Amos Hochstein, the Biden administration's lead on infrastructure initiatives in developing countries, was the only indication last week of any U.S. involvement in the deal to rebuild the Lobito corridor in Angola. But behind the scenes, the U.S. ...
Chinese Mining Company Launches Africa’s First-Ever Lithium Processing Facility in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe became the first country in Africa to process locally-mined lithium with the opening of a new Chinese-owned refining facility outside of the capital Harare. Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe, a unit of the Chinese mining giant Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, formally commissioned the ...
Timing of China’s New Germanium Export Restrictions Couldn’t Be Better for the DR Congo
China's announcement this month that it would limit the export of two metals used to manufacture semiconductors and other defense technologies could provide a huge opportunity for DR Congo's state-run mining company Gécamines which is planning to open a new mining facility for one of those resources.
Wagner Mercenaries Bail Out Chinese Miners Amid Uncertainty Over the Group’s Future in the Central African Republic
A group of Russian mercenary soldiers part of the controversial Wagner Group reportedly came to the rescue last week of Chinese miners in the Central African Republic (CAR) who had come under attack by local militias. Specific details of what happened ...
Indian FM Jaishankar Takes Veiled Swipe at China During Africa Tour
India's top diplomat S. Jaishankar issued a subtle yet direct criticism of China's engagement in Africa during a recent tour of Zanzibar and Tanzania. "Unlike some other countries," he told a meeting of the Indian diaspora community in Dar es Salaam, ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: China and Zambia’s Landmark Debt Deal
After nearly two years of painful, drawn-out negotiations, Zambia finally closed a deal to restructure its bilateral external debt. The announcement was made last week at a global development finance summit in Paris and the new agreement is widely seen as ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: Mutual Expulsions of Indian and Chinese Reporters Almost Complete
The mutual expulsions of Indian and Chinese reporters are now almost complete. The last Chinese journalist in India, a reporter for Xinhua, was expelled last week, leaving just one reporter from the Press Trust of India still in China as the only remaining Indian foreign correspondent.
Israeli PM Netanyahu’s Visit to China Widely Seen as a Message for Joe Biden
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Tuesday he will travel to Beijing next month to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Prime Minister's office batted away arguments in the Israeli media that the visit is intended to pique the White House ...
Netanyahu Visit to China is Strategic Mistake, Says Former Israeli Military Intelligence Chief
One of Israel's most decorated former generals, Amos Yadlin, warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his planned visit to China is a strategic mistake that risks damaging the Jewish state's far more important ties with the United States. Yadlin, who is ...