Today is a public holiday in South Africa – Human Rights Day. There’s a certain irony in spending the day focusing on China’s President Xi Jinping’s visit to Vladimir Putin, knee-deep in a human rights disaster.
What one makes of the Ukraine crisis increasingly maps on where one lives. This is made clear by a remarkable new set of polling data recently published by the European Council on Foreign Relations ...
Category: Environment
WEEK IN REVIEW: Russian Military Frigate Docked in Cape Town, on the Way to Controversial Joint Military Exercises With China and South Africa
A Russian military frigate has docked in South Africa's Cape Town harbor, on the way to controversial joint military exercises with China and South Africa. Operation Mosi will take place off the coast of Durban from February 17 to 27. (FRANCE24) Iranian ...
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 ...
Chinese Search and Rescue Teams Now on the Ground in Turkey with Dozens More on the Way
An 82-person Chinese search and rescue team is on the ground in earthquake-hit Türkiye after arriving at Adana airport on Wednesday. The team brought 20 tons of medical supplies, rescue equipment, and four sniffer dogs. The team
China Sends Personnel, Aid to Assist With Quake Recovery in Türkiye
China announced a series of measures to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Türkiye and Syria in response to Tuesday's devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that killed at least 8,000 people. Beijing is still a relatively new actor in being able ...
Sovereign Sustainability: How China’s Overseas Development Finance Responds to Varying Environmental and Social Protections Around the World
By Rebecca Ray Do high standards for environmental and social protections deter Chinese overseas development finance? New data from the Boston University Global Development Policy Center shows that China’s borrowers have the policy space to ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Xi Bets on Global South in Moscow
“Blue-ing” the BRI for Coastal Ecosystems and Communities
By Rebecca Ray Over the last week, China has presided over the Council of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Montreal. China has chaired COP15 since the COVID-19 pandemic prevented countries from convening ...
Partially Chinese-Financed Hydropower Dam Cuts Power Deliveries to Zambia, Zimbabwe Due to Lack of Water
Environmentalists have warned for years that southern Africa's Chinese-financed hydroelectric building binge would eventually collide with the reality that the region doesn't have enough water. Officials at the Zambezi River Authority that runs the Kariba Dam announced
COP27 Side Deals Have Global Implications
This year's COP27 climate gathering in Egypt inspired both celebration and disappointment. While the establishment of a Loss and Damage fund was a major victory, patchy follow-through on earlier commitments from rich countries raise doubts about its actual effectiveness.
Why the Fate of the New COP27 “Loss and Damage” Climate Fund Depends on China
Negotiators from 200 countries at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt worked overtime this weekend to finalize a controversial funding proposal that would facilitate wealthy countries to compensate developing states for "loss and damages" wrought by climate change.
Will China and Wealthy Countries Pay For Climate Damage in the Global South?
Join us for a very lively end-of-week show where Eric, Cobus, and Geraud get into a spirited debate over whether China, India, and wealthy countries will pay for the damage they've caused to poor countries in Africa and elsewhere from global ...