This week’s carnival of summitry continues with the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ministerial meeting in Bangkok. While many leaders – including China’s President Xi Jinping – are continuing straight to Thailand from the G20 summit in Bali earlier this week, U.S. President Joe Biden won’t be there. Vice President Kamala Harris will stand in for him.
The group’s first in-person meeting in four years is expected to focus on overcoming trade disruptions and supply ...
Category: MENA
Blinken’s Visit to Algeria Highlights North Africa’s Heightened Geopolitical Importance
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (photo) will cross the border from Morocco to Algeria on Wednesday where he's to meet with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. And the fact that this is the first visit by a U.S. Secretary of State ...
New Data Reveals COVID’s Impact on Chinese Engagement in MENA and Horn of Africa
By Leonardo Bruni The ChinaMed Project's newly-updated China-Medittereanean dataset provides the first insights into the impact that COVID has had on Chinese engagement in the Middle East & North Africa as well as the Horn of Africa regions. The ...
Leading Scholar Argues the Middle East is Pivoting to Regional Cooperation and China
The retreat of the United States is causing a ‘wave of reconciliation' in the Middle East and reorienting these countries towards China. So says Ding Long, a prominent professor at the Middle East Institute at Shanghai University of International Studies.
Right Now There Are Two Chinese Special Envoys on the Move in Africa
Two Chinese Special Envoys are currently touring Africa. Zhai Jun, China's Special Envoy to the Middle East arrived in Sudan late Monday night, his second visit there in a month. Zhai is currently on a week-long tour of Middle East and North African countries ...
China’s Mideast Special Envoy Meets With Arab League Secretary-General
While China's Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Xue Bing, is on a tour of regional capitals, Beijing's other Special Envoy, Zhai Jun, is doing the same in the Middle East. Zhai (second to the right) ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Xi Jinping’s Summit Tour Continues to APEC in Thailand
Iranian Security Service Buys Advanced Video Surveillance Technology From China
One of China's largest video surveillance companies, Tiandy, is reportedly selling large quantities of sophisticated AI-enabled cameras with facial recognition technology to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and other Iranian security services, according to a report published earlier this month by surveillance research group IPVM.
While China’s Global Vaccine Distributions Close in on a Billion Doses Delivered, Africa’s Share Remains Small
While China ramps up its global vaccine distributions, particularly in Asia, deliveries to African countries have remained consistently modest since the beginning of the pandemic. So far, only 61.1 million doses have been delivered to African countries, predominantly in the MENA ...
One of Those “Only in Djibouti” Days
Djibouti's Chief of the General Staff of the Armies, Lieutenant General Zakaria Cheikh Ibrahim (photo), had a very busy day last Thursday hosting senior naval commanders from both China and the United States for a series of meetings that can only happen in the strategically located country on ...
The China-Mediterranean Observer: Greece Settles Port Dispute With China But Concerns Linger
Although many countries, such as Iraq, Algeria, and Syria, continue to underline the positive outcomes of their relations with China, the search through the media outlets of the wider Mediterranean also showed that there are raising concerns over a rising Chinese political presence in the MENA region, ...
Moroccan Police Arrest Uyghur Activist at China’s Request
34-year old Uyghur activist Yidiresi Aishan is now in Moroccan police custody awaiting likely deportation to China after he was arrested earlier this week at Casablanca's international airport. Police say they were acting on an Interpol Red Notice, the international police group's most wanted list, based on a ...