Category: Politics
FT Report Provokes Strong Response From U.S., UK Analysts Over China’s Duel With Multilateral Development Banks
FT’s claim (subsequently walked back) that the Zambian Finance Minister rejected China’s call to include the World Bank and other multilateral lenders in debt restructuring triggered responses from prominent commentators across Twitter. The reactions give an interesting glimpse into the complications raised ...
IMF Tells Sri Lanka to Gets Its Creditors in Line, Prompting Showdown With China
The Sri Lankan government suffered another setback in its ongoing effort to secure a $2.9 billion emergency financing package from the International Monetary Fund after the lender informed Colombo it would have to secure more assurances from its creditors, namely China, to provide debt relief. ...
China, Syria Blame U.S. Sanctions on Damascus for Hampering Earthquake Relief
China will send $4.4 million in emergency humanitarian aid to earthquake-hit Syria. The announcement came as China also echoed a call by Damascus for U.S. and European sanctions to be lifted to facilitate the delivery of aid. The death toll in northern ...
What U.S. Policymakers Should Know About Chinese Basing Ambitions in Africa
U.S. military commanders regularly raise concerns about a possible second Chinese military base in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, despite rumors about possible footholds in countries like Equatorial Guinea, China’s strategic interest in Africa is relatively low, especially when compared with regions like Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
“We’re Not Competing With China” in Africa Says Linda Thomas-Greenfield
The United States’s people-to-people ties in Africa make it impervious to Chinese competition, said U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, in an interview with CNN. It's interesting to compare it with remarks by her colleague Jose W. Fernandez, the Under-Secretary for Economic ...
Paris Club Calls Out China Over Sri Lankan Debt Relief
The Paris Club of wealthy creditor states turned up the pressure on China to resolve the current impasse that's blocking debt relief for Sri Lanka and other developing countries. “The Paris Club members as well as Hungary and Saudi Arabia urged other official ...
Africa is Now a VERY Popular Destination For Western Ministers and High-Ranking Diplomats
For years, China was largely alone in regularly dispatching its foreign ministers and high-ranking diplomats to tour Africa. That is no longer the case as U.S., European and Russian diplomats are fanning out across the continent faster than they have in years. ...
South Africa Turned Down Invitation for Join Naval Exercises With U.S., Choosing Russia and China Instead
South Africa is apparently not interested in conducting joint naval exercises with the United States, opting instead to proceed with controversial exercises later this month with both Russia and China. U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Chase Patrick, Director, Maritime Headquarters, U.S. Naval ...
China-IMF Spat Over Debt Relief Intensifies Following Fund Chief’s Call for Beijing to Change Its Ways
The war of words between China and Western-led multilateral institutions about developing country debt is escalating. China’s party-owned tabloid Global Times has reacted to a recent CBS 60 Minutes interview with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, in which she said: "China has to change its policies ...
China Confirms It Has a Balloon Floating Somewhere Over Latin America
China’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed Pentagon allegations that a second Chinese surveillance balloon is floating over Central and South America. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said the balloon is non-military and used for flight tests. She said it has limited self-steering capacity and was blown off course, entering South American airspace “by ...
China’s High-Profile Envoy to the DR Congo to Leave This Week
Zhu Jing, China’s outgoing ambassador, is making the rounds of Kinshasa to say goodbye before leaving the country later this week. He is vacating his post as part of a routine rotation. Zhu was a prominent voice for China as the DRC became ...
African Ambassadors Tour Xinjiang to See “Happy Life of Local Residents”
China’s use of diplomatic junkets to justify its anti-Uyghur measures in Xinjiang to the Global South are ratcheting up again. Ambassadors and other senior diplomats from Senegal, Benin, Mali, Rwanda, Madagascar, Malawi, Uganda, Lesotho and Chad visited the region on Thursday. Judging by Global ...