Category: Military
Asia Society Policy Institute: Weaponizing the Belt and Road Initiative
The U.S.-based Asia Society Policy Institute followed up last week's launch of its new report "Weaponizing the Belt and Road Initiative" with a compelling webinar discussion with the paper's author, ASPI Vice President for International Security and Diplomacy, Daniel Russel, and Elina Noor, ...
How the World’s Great Powers Are Exacerbating the Security Crisis in the Sahel
Russia-MENA analyst and Oxford University PhD candidate Samuel Ramani argues in a compelling new article in Foreign Policy that a combination of narrow political agendas, unilateral actions and a bias towards supporting authoritarian governments by France, the U.S., Russia and China are all contributing to ...
More Unsubstantiated Reports of Chinese Troop Deployments to Africa
Longstanding fears of Chinese troop deployments to Namibia resurfaced last week when a legislator claimed, without evidence, that 3,500 Chinese soldiers are currently in the country. Defense Minister Peter Hafeni Vilho didn't help matters when he refused to comment on the ...
Chinese Port-building Along the BRI: “There’s a Lot More Than Meets the Eye”
Daniel R. Russel and Blake Berger, two scholars at the New York-based Asia Society Policy Institute, have published a new report that looks at the broad security implications of China's Belt and Road Initiative. Although Chinese officials have long maintained that ...
There Are NO Plans for China to Build a New Military Base in Kenya
Seemingly feeding off one another, Kenyan media outlets whipped themselves into a flurry over a rumour that China plans to build a new military base in the country. These stories were predicated on the following statement in the
Book Review: “What Is China up To in Africa? Read This Book.”
Laura Seay, a well-known professor of African politics at Colby College in the United States, gave a glowing review in the Washington Post's Monkey Cage column this week to the new book by Wake Forest University assistant professor Lina Benabdallah.
Africa, Mideast Feature Prominently in Pentagon’s Annual Report on the Chinese Military
China has eclipsed the United States as the country with the world's largest navy, according to the Pentagon's annual report on the Chinese military that it submits to Congress. The new report warns that China is progressing steadily towards its ambition to have a ...
China Issues First Public Statement on Mali Coup
The Chinese government offered its first response to the recent coup in Mali. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian addressed this issue at his regular press briefing in Beijing yesterday: Beijing Daily: "Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced his ...
It’s Been a Violent Year for Chinese Workers in Africa
Aside from everything else going on, 2020 is proving to be a rather violent year for Chinese workers in Africa, particularly in Nigeria. Today's news that yet another Chinese national was taken hostage by kidnappers who raided a construction site in Niger state follows a ...
The Maritime Implications of Growing China-Iran Strategic Ties
Abhijit Singh, a former Indian naval officer and now a senior fellow who heads the Maritime Policy Initiative at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation explores the implications of a China-Iran strategic partnership in the context of naval power. Singh points ...
A European Perspective on China’s Expanding Military Ties in West Africa
Tom Bayes, a researcher at the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation in Berlin joins Eric & Cobus to discuss his new paper that explores the implications for Europe of China's expanding military role in West Africa. Show Notes: ...
A Slick New Documentary Goes Full “Wolf Warrior” to Showcase China’s Blue Helmets in South Sudan
A trailer dropped this weekend for "Blue Defensive Line" (蓝色防线), a new documentary about Chinese United Nations peacekeeping troops in South Sudan that will air on the CCTV6 movie channel. It's interesting that the producers featured a soundbite in the trailer ...