Category: Public Diplomacy
In the Aftermath of Guangzhou, Perceptions of China Sour Among African Civil Society
Chinese efforts to contain the fallout from the recent crisis in Guangzhou appear increasingly ineffectual among a large, and growing, swathe of Africans. Beijing has mounted a robust diplomatic and media campaign to persuade the continent's governing ...
Tweet of the Day: China’s Deputy Ambassador to Zimbabwe Uses Less Than Diplomatic Language to Describe the U.S. President
China's typically non-combative deputy ambassador to Zimbabwe, Zhao Baogang, revealed his feelings about Donald Trump, accusing the U.S. president of being "arrogant" and "lying all the time." This is a rather sharp rhetorical escalation for Zhao, who has until now focused his social media account on ...
China Ramps Up “Mask Diplomacy” in Africa
The Chinese government appears to be taking full advantage of the country's newfound ability to produce extraordinary amounts of masks and other COVID-19 Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and using that gear to advance its diplomatic agenda in Africa and other regions around the world. ...
Chinese Embassy in Botswana Uses Facebook to Slam U.S. Over Failure to Deliver COVID-19 Donation
The Chinese embassy in Botswana has joined the growing chorus of Chinese diplomatic social media accounts in escalating anti-U.S. rhetoric. In a strongly-worded post published on the embassy's Facebook page, the mission alleged that none of the funds promised by the United States were ever sent to ...
COVID-19: A Breakthrough Moment for China’s Soft Power in Africa
After months of waiting anxiously, reports of the COVID-19 virus spreading across is now a daily occurrence. As of today, there are 1198 confirmed cases in 41 African countries. Most of Africa's 1.3 billion people live in ...
Why Jack Ma’s Donation is the Knock-Out Punch in the U.S.-China Soft Power Fight Over COVID-19 in Africa
Leaders across Africa, from Ethiopia to Rwanda, took to Twitter this weekend to express their appreciation to Chinese philanthropist Jack Ma for his massive donation of supplies to each African country in the fight to contain the spread of ...
China Leveraging New Aid Push to “Flip the Script” on the COVID-19 Story Says China Scholar
The highly coordinated Chinese COVID-19 relief effort that is underway around the world is in part intended to provide badly-needed supplies to countries in need but also to shift the narrative about China's role in the entire COVID-19 saga. Now that ...
In the Diplomatic Optics Game, China Shows That it Can Get Things Done to Help Fortify Africa Against COVID-19
Now that the COVID-19 crisis in China is receding, Chinese officials are stepping up their efforts to help other countries in their fight against the deadly virus. Although in many instances the amount of aid, measured in dollars, is far less than what the United States and ...
While South Africans Prepare to Evacuate, China’s Deputy Ambassador to Zimbabwe Tells Anxious Parents It’s Better Their Kids Remain in Wuhan
China's Deputy Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Zhao Baogang, convened a meeting with the parents of students currently stuck in Wuhan at the embassy in Harare on Tuesday. Amid reports of dwindling food supplies and worsening mental health conditions confronting many of the students under quarantine, the parents are ...
China’s Ambassador to South Africa, Lin Songtian, on COVID-19: “There Is No Need to Panic”
China's outspoken ambassador to South Africa, Lin Songtian, convened a press conference on Tuesday at the embassy in Pretoria to presumably update the media about the ongoing effort to contain the spread of the Novel Coronavirus outbreak. But he didn't reveal much new information, other ...
Tweet of the Day: China’s Confucius Institutes in Africa Expand Beyond Cultural Education
Folashadé Soulé is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Oxford and a leading scholar in China-Africa negotiations with a particular emphasis on Chinese engagement in ...
Hundreds of Africans Feel Trapped and Abandonned Quarantined in Wuhan
While thousands of expatriates from wealthy countries will be airlifted out of Wuhan, the epicenter of the burgeoning coronavirus outbreak, African expats meantime confront a very different reality. In addition to the 4,600 African students currently in Wuhan, according to Quartz, there are hundreds ...