Category: Diplomacy
With an Eye on Annoying China, the U.S. National Security Council Praises Taiwan’s Outreach in East Africa
Just hours after Secretary Pompeo's critical comments of the Chinese presence in Africa, the U.S. National Security Council followed up with a provocative tweet that praised Taiwan's recent agreement with the self-declared state of Somaliland. On July 1, Taiwan ...
Washington’s Outspoken Ambassador to Kenya Doesn’t Think Too Highly of Chinese Universities
Never one to mince words, the normally outspoken U.S. ambassador to Kenya, Kyle McCarter, got into a squabble over the weekend with a pair of Kenyans who were enquiring about the status of student visas to the United States that are now in question following President Trump's ...
African Stakeholders May Want to Keep Close Watch on How Small South Asian Countries are Handling the India-China Conflict
Africa is by no means alone as a region where small countries are struggling to stay out of great power competition. In South Asia, smaller countries like Nepal, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka are doing their best to avoid getting sucked into the violent conflict currently roiling ...
Reflections on the Coming Era of Great Power Competition in Africa
Given the heightened tensions between the United States and China and the corresponding implications for Africa, a new conversation is getting underway over what great power competition looks like in the 21st century and whether it will play out differently on the continent than during the decades-long ...
U.S.-China Great Power Competition in Africa
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo renewed his attacks on China's presence in Africa last week, triggering a full-throated rebuttal from Beijing in what's now become an almost routine back-and-forth between these two rival powers. The feud between these two countries ...
The Chinese Embassy in Abuja Blasts Nigerian COVID-19 Lawsuit as “Shoddy” and “Frivolous”
The Chinese embassy in Nigeria on Wednesday forcefully reasserted its objections to a $200 billion lawsuit against China for reparations for COVID-19 filed by a group of Nigerian lawyers in the High Court. "The attempt to file frivolous lawsuits is a shoddy one, as it has zero ...
Buhari: China Reversing Nigeria’s Infrastructure Deficit
President Muhammadu Buhari lauded China's contributions to help Nigeria finance and build badly-needed infrastructure. "China's playing a great role in reversing Nigeria’s infrastructural deficit," he said in a statement following a farewell meeting on Tuesday with outgoing Chinese Ambassador Zhou Pingjian (photo). ...
Another High Profile Chinese Ambassador in Africa to Leave Soon
China's Ambassador to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian, is making the rounds this week to say good-bye to officials in Abuja ahead of his planned departure. Ambassador Zhou is the third high profile Chinese envoy to rotate out of their post in Africa following this spring's departure ...
Chinese, Arab Foreign Ministers Wrap Up Uneventful Low Key Forum
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi met on Monday with his counterparts from North Africa, the Mideast, and the Gulf for a surprisingly low-key online ministerial conference. The 9th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, comparable to the Forum on China Africa Cooperation, was co-hosted by Jordanian ...
The Need to Discuss Race in China-Africa Relations
The domestic racial homogeneity of China and most African countries, as well as the lack of cross-cultural understanding between Chinese and Africans, have always been attributed as the rationale for the people-level clashes between Chinese and Africans, be it in Africa or China. However, in ...
As China’s International Relations Become Increasingly Fractious, Friendly Ties With Small Countries Like Ghana Gain Importance
China and Ghana marked the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations on Sunday and while these kinds of anniversaries typically aren't very newsworthy, this year, well, things are different. Amid conflicts with India, the U.S., UK, Vietnam, Japan, Canada, Australia, and Sweden among a number ...
University of Cape Town Professor Says Africans Need to Understand Why China Values Ties With the Continent
Professor Carlos Lopes from the University of Cape Town is challenging the widely-held perception that Africa is very important to China's broader global economic agenda. Well, they're wrong, he said in a recent interview with Zimbabwean newspaper publisher Trevor Ncube.