Category: Diplomacy

FT’s claim (subsequently walked back) that the Zambian Finance Minister rejected China’s call to include the World Bank and other multilateral lenders in debt restructuring triggered responses from prominent commentators across Twitter. The reactions give an interesting glimpse into the complications raised ...

The Sri Lankan government suffered another setback in its ongoing effort to secure a $2.9 billion emergency financing package from the International Monetary Fund after the lender informed Colombo it would have to secure more assurances from its creditors, namely China, to provide debt relief. ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen wrapped up a three-day visit to Beijing on Friday that included meetings with his counterpart Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping. The Cambodian leader went to Beijing with a big wish list that he's hoping China will fund, namely ...

By Buğra Süsler Last December Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu held an end-of-year press conference to review the year’s foreign policy developments and Turkey’s relations with the world. A highlight of this conference was his exceptionally open criticism ...

The first shipment of Australian coal in two years will soon be offloaded in China, offering evidence that trade ties between the two countries are thawing. The shipment is anchored off the Chinese port of Zhanjiang, a major steel hub. China imposed a block on trade with Australia ...

China will send $4.4 million in emergency humanitarian aid to earthquake-hit Syria. The announcement came as China also echoed a call by Damascus for U.S. and European sanctions to be lifted to facilitate the delivery of aid. The death toll in northern ...

U.S. military commanders regularly raise concerns about a possible second Chinese military base in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, despite rumors about possible footholds in countries like Equatorial Guinea, China’s strategic interest in Africa is relatively low, especially when compared with regions like Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

The United States’s people-to-people ties in Africa make it impervious to Chinese competition, said U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, in an interview with CNN. It's interesting to compare it with remarks by her colleague Jose W. Fernandez, the Under-Secretary for Economic ...

The Paris Club of wealthy creditor states turned up the pressure on China to resolve the current impasse that's blocking debt relief for Sri Lanka and other developing countries. “The Paris Club members as well as Hungary and Saudi Arabia urged other official ...

For years, China was largely alone in regularly dispatching its foreign ministers and high-ranking diplomats to tour Africa. That is no longer the case as U.S., European and Russian diplomats are fanning out across the continent faster than they have in years. ...

South Africa is apparently not interested in conducting joint naval exercises with the United States, opting instead to proceed with controversial exercises later this month with both Russia and China. U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Chase Patrick, Director, Maritime Headquarters, U.S. Naval ...

The war of words between China and Western-led multilateral institutions about developing country debt is escalating. China’s party-owned tabloid Global Times has reacted to a recent CBS 60 Minutes interview with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, in which she said: "China has to change its policies ...