Category: Democracy

Singapore’s Defense Chief: To Asia, the U.S. Has Shifted from Liberator to ‘Landlord Seeking Rent‘

Singapore’s defense chief, Ng Eng Hen, highlighted Asia’s shifting view of the U.S. during a roundtable at the Munich Security Conference. Eng Hen said that once seen as a force of “moral legitimacy” following World War II, Asia now views the ...

Letter From Washington: The Narrowing Space for Democracy

Greetings from Washington, D.C., Over the last two and a half months, I’ve spent time in Washington, D.C. and several European capitals meeting with folks from think tanks, civil society, and policy circles to talk about critical minerals and the West’s ...

Why Did France Ban TikTok in Pacific New Caledonia?

France has taken the dramatic step of blocking TikTok in its Pacific territory of New Caledonia as part of efforts to quell days of violent unrest. It is the latest clash between democratic governments and the Chinese-owned social media platform.

UPDATE: Paraguay, Pacific Island Leaders to Attend Taiwan Inauguration

Eight heads of state will be among the 51 international delegations attending the inauguration of Taiwan's new leader next week, Taipei said Friday. Incoming president Lai Ching-te will be sworn in on Monday against a backdrop of increasing diplomatic and military ...

Solomons to Choose PM on May 2, China Ties at Stake

The Solomon Islands will choose a prime minister on Thursday after a general election left the existing pro-China government's future in the balance. Lawmakers will meet in parliament to elect the Pacific nation's leader at 9:30 am May 2 (2230 GMT ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

China-Led Study Proposes Global Energy Network

A globally connected network of solar and wind energy could provide three times the global energy demand by 2050 at a lower cost than independent national power systems. This is the finding of a study led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in collaboration with researchers from the United States and Denmark.

The study focused on how areas with high solar and wind capacity (such as deserts) can be linked to ...

The China-Mediterranean Observer: Amid a Surge of Palestinian-Israeli Violence, Chinese Optimism About Its Role in the Peace Process Fades

June was a relatively uneventful month for Chinese commentators and journalists covering developments in Sino-Mediterranean relations. Among the few events that garnered significant media attention was the state visit by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Beijing. In line with the ...

Africa’s Cynical Democrats Face the Development Dilemma

The Biden administration frames its fight with China for influence in the Global South as a struggle between democracy and autocracy. Both sides argue that their systems boost development. The result is that Africa's development space is increasingly clogged with geopolitics.  The prominent ...

How U.S.–China Cooperation Can Strengthen Democracy

By Jake Werner Is it possible to find common ground between the United States and China on the fraught question of democracy? The answer at first appears to be no. But the prospects for democracy around the world may depend on ...

China and 22 Francophone African Countries Talk Democracy

China recently convened an online seminar 22 French-speaking African countries to discuss democracy. The online meeting, on “The Exploration and Practice of Democracy in Chinese and African Legislative Bodies” drew in members of China’s National People’s Assembly, and about 90 African representatives. 

New Articles Promote “Chinese Democracy” to African Readers 

Two new articles promoting the idea that the Chinese system represents an alternative form of democracy from that promoted by Western countries have appeared in the South African and Nigerian press this week. While they were apparently written by African journalists, they follow Chinese state talking points ...

If B3W is Supposed to Rally “Like-Minded Democracies” to Confront China in the Global South, Then the U.S. Has a Big Problem

Building a coalition of "like-minded democracies" to challenge China's Belt and Road Initiative in developing countries was a founding principle of U.S. President Joe Biden's Build Back Better World initiative when he unveiled the plan over the summer at the G7 summit in ...

Nigeria’s Twitter Ban & China’s Cyber Cultural Products

June’s been an eventful month for China, Africa, and the internet. On June 5th, Nigeria’s government suspended the use of Twitter in the country, indefinitely. The next day, the Foundation for Investigative Journalism reported that the Nigerian government had also reached out to the Cyberspace Administration ...
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