Amid Political Turmoil in Nigeria, Speaker of the House Femi Gbajabiamila Emerges as a Key Player in Managing the Crisis With China

Femi Gbajabiamila has emerged as a central player in managing his country's various recent crises with China, including the uproar over the arrival of a 15-member Chinese medical team, and the ongoing disputes over reports of discrimination and maltreatment of Nigerians in the southern Chinese city of ...

The Thorny Politics of Gratitude

The COVID-19 crisis is nothing if not instructive. It has functioned like an X-ray, revealing hidden weaknesses in systems across the world. This isn't only true in the narrow sense, relating to health care, insurance, and protective gear manufacturing systems. It's also true in the wider, political ...

China May Be Patching Things Up With African Leaders Over What Happened in Guangzhou, But Persuading Everyone Else is Going to be Much More Difficult

While African foreign ministers and other high-ranking officials appear satisfied, at least publicly, with China's explanation for the forced evictions and other apparent maltreatment of African migrants in Guangzhou last week, vast portions of African civil society are not persuaded and feel quite bitter over the indignities ...

China Moves Quickly to Reassure Anxious African Governments that the Crisis in Guangzhou has been Resolved

For the second time in less than a week, Chinese ambassadors in Africa fanned out to foreign ministries across the continent, this time as part of Beijing's effort to reassure foreign ministers in various countries that the situation in Guangzhou has now been resolved and also to ...

WHO Fight With the U.S. Highlights Why Africa is So Important to China

African leaders are rallying to the defense of World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus following Tuesday's broadside attack from U.S. President Donald Trump against the health body for failing to move fast enough to contain the COVID-19 outbreak when it first emerged in China ...

Ambassador Lin Songtian’s Recall Signals Shifts Ahead in China-Africa Relationship

The sudden recall from South Africa of Chinese ambassador Lin Songtian was initially interpreted as being a demotion. But the contrary appears to be true – it now looks as though his deft use of Twitter has propelled him into another role: A combatant in the growing ...

China’s COVID-19 Donation Spree Picks Up Pace in Africa

China's embassies across Africa are coordinating both public and private donations to local stakeholders battling the spread of COVID-19. The donations appear to be part of a larger Chinese strategy to raise Beijing's profile as a leading provider of humanitarian assistance, particularly to lesser developed countries.

African Futurist Jakkie Cilliers Looks Beyond Today’s COVID-19 Crisis

“African economies are staring at an abyss,” said Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed earlier this week in a desperate appeal to the international community for aid and debt relief to offset the ruinous effects of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Reflections on Lin Songtian’s Reported Departure from South Africa

18-hours before the story broke on The Daily Maverick website, we heard rumors that China's outspoken, high-profile ambassador to South Africa, Lin Songtian, had been recalled. "Holy ^%#*$! That's huge!" I said to myself when I first heard about the news.

Daily Maverick: China’s Brash Outspoken Ambassador to South Africa “Recalled”

Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Lin Songtian is reportedly being recalled to Beijing according to a report in the Daily Maverick newspaper. The article quotes unnamed sources within South Africa's Department of International Relations and Co-operation (DIRCO) suggesting that Ambassador Lin will leave as soon as Monday.

U.S. Conservatives Don’t Like China’s Close Relationship With the World Health Organization

There's growing anger among U.S. conservatives over the World Health Organization's handling of the burgeoning COVID-19 and the international body's close ties with the Chinese government. Additionally, these U.S. critics contend that the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has the backing of Beijing in part because of his ...

African Governments Now Have to Worry About Becoming Collateral Damage in the Rapidly Escalating U.S.-China Feud Over COVID-19

Just as every African government is now contending with the terrifying prospect of a deadly viral outbreak while scrambling to deal with deteriorating economic conditions at home, policymakers also have to confront the possibility of being dragged into a rapidly escalating dispute between the United States and ...
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