Category: Diplomacy

Dear Eric, As the Representative in Africa for JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization), I would like to comment regarding your column on September 24th, "What It Takes To Compete Against the Chinese in Africa," where you mentioned that ...

China's ambassador-designate to South Africa, Chen Xiaodong, arrived at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg yesterday to start his tour as Beijing's sixth envoy to Pretoria. Chen's appointment to the post reaffirms Beijing's view that South Africa remains its most important ...

Chinese diplomats in Africa are reaffirming President Xi Jinping's pledge to make a COVID-19 vaccine available to people across the continent once it's tested and ready for distribution. Fang Yi, the political attaché at the Chinese embassy in Uganda, 

Aminu Wali, 79, is long retired from a distinguished diplomatic career as Nigeria's envoy to China, the United Nations and a stint as the country's foreign minister. In a wide-ranging interview with the Premium Times newspaper, Wali reflected on the current state of ties with China and ...

Remember all those exciting Africa summits that took place last year? The Russians and Turks each had one, as did the Europeans, and the Japanese. At one point it seemed kind ...

Ethiopia's envoy to the United States, Fitsum Arega, used the occasion of the United Nations 75th anniversary to renew a plea for urgent African debt relief that was first issued by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on March 24th.

Over the last week we've reached two critical milestones that put the worsening African debt crisis into sharp focus: First, the good news. Angola appears to have reached an agreement with some of its major creditors at the International Monetary Fund ...

China will speak today at the United Nations General Assembly meeting, which is taking place online this year. Peacekeeping will likely be a key topic of discussion for the Chinese given the increasingly prominent role Beijing plays in UN operations around the world, particularly in ...

The Chinese government appears to be aware of the criticism that its contributions to international peacekeeping efforts are a cover to promote its own national security agenda in places like Africa, where it has sizable economic and geopolitical interests. In what ...

A reported requirement by the United States that Kenya support Israel's commercial and political interests or else risk jeopardizing its possible free trade agreement with the U.S., is not sitting well with some commentators in Africa, who see a double standard. ...

One of America's most prominent economists, Laurence H. Summers, issued a warning to U.S. policymakers to remain engaged in Africa or else risk ceding influence to China in what he says would be an "error of historic proportions." Summers, a former Treasury Secretary and president emeritus of ...

For a while, I've been wondering about Chinese peacekeeping in Africa. Specifically, I was wondering where it went as a topic of discussion. A few years ago, every second China-Africa seminar seemed to focus on peacekeeping. Then attention moved to debt, and I assumed that Beijing was ...