Italy has announced its formal withdrawal from the Belt and Road Initiative after joining the China-centered infrastructure and investment project in 2019.
The timing of the announcement that Rome won’t renew its BRI commitment is notable. It came only a day before the EU-China summit, which kicks off on Thursday. The summit will likely be more contentious than usual, with European leaders expected to push China on the treatment of EU firms amid discussions ...
Category: Conversations in China
Even Before Blinken Unveiled the New U.S. Strategy For Africa, China Didn’t Like It
Hours before Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the new U.S. strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa, China's nationalist tabloid newspaper began publishing stories that attacked the U.S. for "attempting to bring the continent back to the Cold War" and for "ruining Africa's development prospects."
Chinese Scholars Map the Future of Africa-China Relations
How are Africa-China relations changing in response to crises like Ukraine? Few are more preoccupied with this issue than China’s Africa scholars. The Africa Research Group of the Eurasia Systems Science Society, which includes some of the most prominent Africa scholars in China, recently hosted a conference ...
BBC Documentary Sparks More Reflective, Less Racist Discussion on Chinese Social Media
It took a few days, but the BBC Africa documentary "Racism for Sale," which showcased the trend of Chinese merchants selling offensive videos online that exploit Africans, finally made it over the Great Firewall and is now the subject of lively online discussions. ...
Chinese Social Media is Oddly Quiet About the Racism Accusations Uncovered in the BBC Documentary
Over the weekend, in the run-up to Monday's broadcast of the BBC documentary, some of the staff at the network were bracing for what they expected would be a forceful response from China's online supporters -- both Chinese and foreign. They ...
Why Chinese Manufacturers Are Leaving the Pearl River Delta to Go to Vietnam
International companies are by no means alone in looking to move their supply chains out of China. A growing number of Chinese manufacturers are doing the same, albeit for very different reasons. While U.S., European and Japanese companies have been frustrated ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Awkward Timing as Italy Withdraws from BRI
Chinese State Media is Predictably Downbeat About the Summit
It is widely acknowledged that China will feature prominently during this week’s U.S.-ASEAN summit. For that reason, it’s interesting to track how the summit is being covered in the Chinese state press. The most prominent response so far was penned by ...
Don’t Shoot Your Employees and Don’t Pay Bribes Are Among the Chinese Embassy in Namibia’s Recommendations on How Expatriates Should Behave Better
The Chinese embassy in Namibia really wants its overseas compatriots who live and work in the country to improve their behavior. And to help them, the embassy this week published on its WeChat page a rather illuminating list of eight examples of recent transgressions committed by Chinese nationals in ...
Trend of Shanghai “Blessing Videos” Featuring Africans Raises Dark Memories
Shanghai’s COVID lockdown is resurrecting a troubling trend in Africa-China social media. Online agents accept orders to create tailor-made videos to inspire Shanghai residents to persevere through the pandemic-related restrictions. The problem is that these videos include Africans, dancing and holding up signs in Chinese.
African Takedown of Western Stereotypes Goes Viral in China
This video of a woman addressing many of the demeaning stereotypes about Africa and Africans is now going viral on the Chinese social video site Bilibili where it's been re-posted multiple times and received 1+ million views in just the past few days.
While Chinese Media Coverage of the Contract Controversy in the DRC Parrots the Party Line, Commentators Have a Different Opinion
The hyper-nationalist online news site Guancha (观察者）is among the few Chinese media outlets that features somewhat regular coverage of the ongoing contract review controversy between Chinese mining companies and the DRC government. While the site's reporting fully aligns with the official ...