Sri Lanka’s major creditors, including India, Japan, and France, are nearing a debt deal by mid-October, according to the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shinbun. However, there are serious questions as to whether China (one of Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral creditors) will be part of the deal.
This puts much pressure on Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s upcoming visit to Beijing to attend ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. Wickremesinghe ...
Category: Elections
Pro-China Opposition Leader to be Next President of Maldives
Maldives opposition leader Mohamed Muizzu easily won a second-round vote against incumbent Ibrahim Solih to become president-elect of the small Indian Ocean island state. Muizzu, who is widely seen as favorable to increased engagement with China and less so with India, won ...
The Starkly Different Responses by the U.S. and China to Zimbabwe’s Controversial Election
The Chinese government said it is "ready to work" with the new (old) Zimbabwean government and claimed that the controversial vote was conducted in "peaceful and orderly fashion." Although Beijing did acknowledge some irregularities in last week's balloting, it called on ...
Indonesia 2024 Presidential Election: Forecasting Future Proximity With China
Indonesia will hold a presidential election next year that will potentially see three candidates battling for office: Anies Baswedan, Ganjar Pranowo, and Prabowo Subianto. Since declaring their presidential bids, the three candidates have talked about various issues, ranging from improving education, boosting employment, healthcare, ...
Cambodia’s Unopposed Election Signals Unchanged Relationship with China
The Cambodian government lauded the results of the weekend’s landslide victory for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party. The choice was clear - it was essentially a one-horse race, with long-time Prime Minister Hun Sen’s party winning 120 out of 125 seats. The victory arguably signals stability in the long ...
Did China Intervene in a Pakistani Election? Controversy Reveals Beijing’s Economic Centrality
A revealing war of words has erupted between Pakistan’s current ruling party and its predecessor touching on China’s political influence. On the ten-year anniversary of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a massive Belt and Road Initiative project incorporating transport logistics, industrial zones and ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Glimmers of Debt Deal for Sri Lanka Raises China Pressure
What a Small Electric Substation in Kinshasa Tells Us About Why Developing Countries Often Prefer to Work With China on Infrastructure
China's ambassador to the DR Congo, Zhu Jing, posted one of those anodyne tweets on Sunday about yet another Chinese-financed infrastructure project in Africa nearing completion. These kinds of Chinese infrastructure soft power propaganda messages (aka "Infrastructure Porn") have become so common ...
There’s a Lot at Stake for China in Turkey’s Elections
It looks like Turkey's bitterly contested presidential election will require a run-off in two weeks since neither President Tayyip Erdogan nor his opposition rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu could secure an outright majority in the first round of voting that took place on Sunday.
Lula’s Victory Expected to Boost China-Brazil Ties
Chinese President Xi Jinping was quick to send his congratulations on Monday to Luis Inacio Lula da Silva on his re-election as president of Brazil. The Foreign Ministry in Beijing was equally enthusiastic about Lula's return to power, with spokesman Zhao Lijian telling reporters that China ...