Category: Diplomacy
China Shakes Up the Leadership of Its Sub-Saharan African Diplomacy
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made leadership changes in its African policy team. Dai Bing, who was the Director-General of the African Affairs Department (a role comparable to that of the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs) is now in New York where he's ...
Sovereign Immunity Controversy in Nigeria Sparks Media Panic About Chinese “Debt Traps”
For much of the past week, Nigerian news outlets across the spectrum have published a series of alarming stories claiming that the country's sovereignty is now jeopardized by its various infrastructure loans, specifically on account of the standard sovereign immunity clauses in the loan agreements.
Top U.S. Diplomat for Africa: “China Gets the Chutzpah of the Year Award For Their Pretend Response on COVID”
Two top U.S. officials responsible for Africa policy testified last week before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa regarding the worsening COVID-19 pandemic on the continent and how the outbreak will impact U.S. foreign policy in the region. U.S. Assistant ...
A Congressman’s Seething Resentment of the Chinese and Their Presence in Africa
As he left the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing last Thursday, Tennessee Republican Representative Tim Burchett recorded a short two-minute video on Twitter to reflect on the session and to express his anger towards the Chinese in general and specifically Beijing's presence in Africa.
African Countries Want to Keep Their Options Open Regarding Huawei, Maintaining a Position of “Deliberate Ambiguity”
A new map of the world produced by one of Washington's leading China analysts, Scott Kennedy from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, breaks down the world according to how each country views Huawei. Not surprisingly, the ...
A China-Africa “Wish List”
With China-U.S. ties rapidly deteriorating, the South China Morning Post's "China Briefing" columnist Wang Xiangwei mused in his latest article on Saturday what Beijing could do to resuscitate its tattered international reputation as it embarks on a new era in its relationship with Washington.
The Country, the People, and the Debt
The news last week that South Africa has received a $4.3 billion loan from the IMF to help tide it over the COVID-19 crisis resulted in a revealing moment online. Rather than celebrating this lifeline to an economy that was already weak before the pandemic, ...
Development Finance Emerges as the Newest Front in China’s Standoff With the U.S.
Chinese President Xi Jinping didn't mention the United States by name when he addressed the opening of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank's annual meeting this week, but he didn't really have to in order to get his point across.
Uproar in Nigeria Over Fears that Chinese Loans Are Jeopardizing Sovereignty
A full-blown media and Twitter hysteria erupted on Wednesday in Nigeria over reports that a member of the House of Representatives discovered a clause in a Chinese loan contract that supposedly puts the country's sovereignty at risk in the event of default.
Be Careful, Warned Nigeria’s Transportation Minister, House Probe Threatens Chinese Loans
Nigerian Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, called on the house of representatives committee on treaties and agreements on Wednesday to suspend their investigation into past Chinese loans until Abuja has secured $500 million for three new loans to fund critical transportation projects.
The New Sino-Australian Simandou Iron Ore Mine in Guinea Emerges as an Important Geopolitical Focal Point
Policymakers in Canberra are no doubt looking up where Guinea is on a map, after learning of potential threats to Australia's $65 billion of iron ore export business to China. Australian ties with China have worsened considerably in ...
Arab Barometer: MENA Residents Have an Increasingly Favorable View of China
A new survey published by Arab Barometer, a Princeton University-affiliated non-partisan quantitative research institute, reveals increasingly favorable public perceptions of China in many countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa. "In nine of 12 countries surveyed as part of the ...