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: Trafficking
Vietnam Sentences Trafficking Ringleaders That Sold Brides in China
A court in Vietnam sentenced six women to up to 30 years in jail for running a trafficking ring that sold women and girls to China as wives — a problem that has plagued Southeast Asia for years. China’s gender imbalance ...
Further Crackdowns on Cross-Border Gambling and Scams in Myanmar
More than 1,200 Chinese nationals allegedly involved in illegal cross-border gambling operations were detained by Myanmar militias and handed over to Chinese authorities on Saturday, the Associated Press reported. In June, China launched an anti-fraud campaign that has so ...
China, Thailand Agree to Fight Call-Center Gangs
Senior Chinese and Thai security officials met in Bangkok on Tuesday to discuss closer cooperation to combat so-called "call center gangs" that have ensnared thousands of Chinese nationals into forced labor across Southeast Asia. China's Public Security Vice Minister Xu Ganlu ...
Ministry of Commerce Blasts U.S. For Sanctions Against Chinese Companies Allegedly Involved in the Mexican Fentanyl Trade
China's powerful Ministry of Commerce denounced the United States for sanctioning 17 Chinese and Mexican companies and individuals last week for their alleged involvement in the fentanyl trade. The Ministry said on Tuesday the U.S. "disregarded facts " and accused Washington ...
Shock and Dismay in South Africa After Discovery of “Slave-Like” Conditions in Chinese-owned Factory
South Africa's Home Affairs Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, was visibly shaken when describing the "inhumane and unspeakable conditions" in a plastics factory owned by a Chinese national that was raided by security forces on Monday. An informant tipped ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Awkward Timing as Italy Withdraws from BRI
China Announces Sweeping Ban of Eating and Trading Wildlife
China's top legislative body, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), announced a sweeping ban on the trade and consumption of wild animals as part of the effort to stem the deadly COVID-19 outbreak that has crippled the country. ...
Pangolins and Other African Wildlife Could be Among the Only Beneficiaries of This Crisis
The outbreak of coronavirus is being traced back to one of Wuhan's many live animal markets that sell a variety of wildlife including snakes, turtles, and cicadas, guinea pigs, bamboo rats, badgers, hedgehogs, otters, palm civets, even wolf cubs. Now that this ...
Donkey Populations in Kenya and Ghana Are on Track to Be “Devastated” Due to Chinese Demand for Hides
The Washington Post's West Africa correspondent Danielle Paquette and Maxwell Suuk published a compelling story this weekend on the devastation that subsistence farmers in Ghana are encountering due to donkey poaching. The animal's hides are sought after in China where they're used to make the traditional Chinese medicine ejiao ...
A Zambian Ambassador Issues Forceful Denial That Senior Lusaka Leaders Involved in Illegal Timber Racket
Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union, Emmanuel Mwamba, published a scathing rebuttal to allegations made by the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency that accused senior government leaders of running a "cartel" to illegally harvest and export endangered mukula timber, largely to China.
Investigation: High-Level Corruption in Zambia Fuels Illegal Timber Trade with China
The Environmental Investigation Agency published a damning report last week that alleged Zambian President Edgar Lungu, his daughter and several high-ranking ministers are all allegedly involved in the illicit trade of rare mukula wood. Mukula is a rare African tree and one of the rosewood species protected under ...