Category: Diplomacy
Algerian President In China to Push BRICS Membership, Economic Engagement
Algeria’s President Abdelmajid Tebboune is on a state visit to China. The visit, which will occupy most of the week, is seen as an attempt to raise Algeria’s international prominence and diversify its economy. Tebboune, who spent two days in Qatar on the way ...
Yet Another Failed G20 Debt Gathering
A meeting of finance ministers and central bank heads of the G20 group of leading economies produced few results despite increasingly shrill calls for action to help the roughly 50% of developing countries stalked by debt distress. Progress at the ministerial meeting, ...
Why Did Taiwan’s Foxconn Exit Indian Chip Deal? Chinese Columnist Drops Some Gossip
Earlier in July, the Taiwanese contract electronics maker Foxconn, one of Apple’s largest suppliers, announced it was pulling out of a $19.5 billion deal to produce semiconductors in India. The joint venture between Foxconn and the Indian mining and metals firm Vedanta ...
The China-Mediterranean Observer: Iranian, Saudi Commentators Reflect on What’s Next for China’s Role in the Region
In April, news outlets throughout the wider Mediterranean region continued to discuss the “Beijing Agreement”, the recent China-brokered deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran to reestablish official diplomatic relations. Interest in the agreement remained high as the Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers reconvened in Beijing ...
Iraqi Air Force Denies Rumors It Agreed to Buy Chinese JF-17 Fighter Jets From Pakistan
Reports began circulating late last week that Iraq had finalized a deal to purchase 12 JF-17 Thunder fighter jets from Pakistan for $664 million. The news lit up Pakistani Twitter as hundreds of posts emerged celebrating the deal that would make ...
Disputes Over Borders and Business Dominate China-India Talks
China's top diplomat Wang Yi called on his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar to re-orient their two countries' steadily deteriorating ties away from "specific issues" that Wang feels shouldn't "define the overall relationship." Wang made the request on Friday during talks with ...
What Happened to Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang?
It's been three weeks since Qin Gang was last seen in public, sparking a wave of rumors (many emanating from Taiwan) that the Chinese Foreign Minister has been benched for allegedly having an affair with Phoenix News TV journalist Fu Xiaotian. Initially, ...
PLA Navy Tour of Africa Stops in the Republic of Congo
A weeks-long tour of Africa by a trio of Chinese warships continued with a stop in the Republic of Congo on Friday, where they were greeted by Defense Minister Richard Mondjo. The PLA Navy ships previously made stops in Nigeria, Ghana ...
Re-Election of China’s Man at the Food & Agriculture Organization Could Reverberate in the Global South
By Felix Brender Earlier this month, China’s Qu Dongyu was re-elected as head of the UN’s Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO). Media coverage was rather muted inside and outside China, where official media foregrounded Qu’s being the first Chinese in such a role and ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: Solomon Islands Signs Police Cooperation Agreement With China
The Solomon Islands signed a police cooperation agreement with China, as part of upgrading their ties to a strategic comprehensive partnership. This resulted from a state visit by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to Beijing, and follows alarm in the U.S. and Australia due to a joint security pact ...
South China Sea Ruling Anniversary Adds Pressure to ASEAN Gatherings
Protests in Manila this week marked the seventh anniversary of a Permanent Court of Arbitration tribunal’s finding in favor of a Philippine claim over a stretch of the South China Sea also claimed by China. This comes as a week of ...
NATO Communique Dials Up Tensions
Chinese state media is responding strongly to a NATO communique released this week that characterizes China as a threat to the bloc’s interests. The communique, released during a two-day NATO summit in Lithuania, said: “The ...