Italy has announced its formal withdrawal from the Belt and Road Initiative after joining the China-centered infrastructure and investment project in 2019.
The timing of the announcement that Rome won’t renew its BRI commitment is notable. It came only a day before the EU-China summit, which kicks off on Thursday. The summit will likely be more contentious than usual, with European leaders expected to push China on the treatment of EU firms amid discussions ...
Category: Immigration
Ghanaian Court Jails the Notorious Chinese “Galamsey Queen” for Illegal Mining
Aisha Huang will spend the next four and a half years in a Ghanaian jail cell after the Accra High Court handed down a ruling on Monday that dominated the news in the West African country. Huang, who was known as the ...
Explaining Indonesia’s Different Responses To Palestine, Xinjiang, and Myanmar’s Rohingya
On November 16, 2023, an overcrowded wooden boat carrying around 250 Rohingyas attempted to land in the Indonesian province of Aceh. They were unwelcome, and locals turned the boat away. The Rohingyas are a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority group in Myanmar. Thousands are forced to risk ...
Southeast Asian Vacation Spots Wait for Chinese Tourists Who Seem More Content to Stay Home
The number of Chinese tourists that went abroad during last week’s normally bustling holiday break was significantly below pre-pandemic levels and even fell short of official forecasts, raising more concerns about the country’s tightened consumer spending. While a rare confluence of ...
Illegal Chinese Migration to the U.S. Surges via Mexico
The number of Chinese nationals illegally crossing into the United States from Mexico is surging, according to new data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Last year, the total number of undocumented Chinese nationals that were apprehended at the border was ...
TRANSLATION: Africa Is Not Paradise for Chinese Bosses
There’s been a recent flurry of posts on WeChat from various accounts in different countries that tout the enormous opportunities available for Chinese entrepreneurs on the continent. Some of these accounts are either directly or indirectly affiliated with various Chinese government agencies and appear intended to encourage ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Awkward Timing as Italy Withdraws from BRI
Cambodia Must Check Chinese-Sponsored Casinos’ Operations in Sihanoukville
Cambodia’s Sihanoukville Province has seen tremendous growth in infrastructure and development in the past decade, thanks to China’s help. Tourism flourishes, spurring employment opportunities and economic activities. Unfortunately, a majority of that development comes from casinos and gambling businesses, which ...
Why African Immigrants Won’t Help Offset China’s Declining Population
China, like other large northeast Asian industrial economies, is facing a rapidly declining population that threatens its long-term economic growth. The fundamental problem is that there aren't enough younger working-age people to support a ballooning population of retirees who often require ...
TRANSLATION: Africa is the Most Contempible Region for Chinese Living Abroad
This is the second in a series of posts that we've translated from the popular online writer Nie Shaorui (聂少聂) who is based in East Africa and regularly posts provocative columns about daily life for the Chinese diaspora in Africa. The purpose of these translations is to ...
Ugandan Food Vlogger in Rural China Becomes Unlikely Social Media Star
30-year Ugandan immigrant Rose is now a full-fledged social media star on China's TikTok equivalent Douyin. Now, with more than a million followers and almost 200 million likes, Rose (who doesn't reveal her last name) has become one of China's most popular food vloggers. ...
Chinese Tourist Flight Given Hero’s Welcome in Cambodia
In a sign of how eager Southeast Asian countries are to welcome back Chinese visitors, the first flight from China since outbound travel resumed was given a ceremonial welcome when it landed on Tuesday in the Cambodian capital Phenom Penh. Cambodia ...