Category: Uncategorized
Once Angola Renegotiates its Debts, There May Not be Much Money Left Over For Anything Else
Nathan Hayes, an Africa analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit in London, highlights Angola's dilemma in the ongoing talks to restructure its debts. With the price of oil so low due to the global economic slowdown brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak, pretty much the only choice ...
Not a Day Goes by That Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian Doesn’t Talk About COVID-19 Aid to Africa
Regular readers of this newsletter may have noticed a new trend. In recent weeks, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian has mentioned Beijing's COVID-19 medical relief to Africa in almost every one of his regular press briefings. The questions ...
Just a Month Ago China Was Blamed for Anti-Black Discrimination, Now Beijing Rallies Behind Africa to Protest Against Racism in the U.S.
The Chinese government is steadily escalating its criticism of the United States over the ongoing protests against police brutality that are now taking place in dozens of cities across the U.S. While Chinese diplomats and embassies in Africa
Heritage Foundation: China’s Construction of Government Buildings in Africa Potentially Enhances Beijing’s Spying Capabilities
The conservative Heritage Foundation in the United States published a new report on Wednesday arguing that China's intelligence capabilities are potentially enhanced by Beijing's drive to construct government buildings across the continent. "Chinese companies have constructed or renovated ...
African Countries Sign on To Global Inquiry Into COVID-19 Origin
All African countries under the banner "The African Group and its Members States" are now part of a group of 110 countries who signed a World Health Organization draft resolution on Monday that calls for an inquiry into the origin of COVID-19.
Evan Feigenbaum: U.S. Making a Strategic Mistake in Challenging WHO Just as China Announces New COVID-19 Measures
Evan Feigenbaum, vice president of the Carnegie Endowment and a leading foreign affairs commentator in the United States, said the timing of President Donald Trump's threat to permanently defund the World Health Organization just as China is stepping up support for ...
In These Polarized Times, Talking About China is Not Easy
University of London Ph.D. candidate Li Hangwei commiserated on Twitter with Stanford University Political Science Professor Yiqing Xu about the perils of talking about China, both on social media and when conducting research. Both scholars noted how they're stuck in between being pro-CCP "Panda Huggers" ...
Kenya’s Dilemma: If It Wants G20 Relief Then It Can’t Issue More Bonds or Take out More Loans. So How Does It Close a Gaping Budget Deficit?
Kenya, and likely many other African countries, is in a bit of a pinch right now: it desperately needs to raise money to close an estimated $7.7 billion budget deficit. But if the Treasury wants to remain qualified for G20 debt relief then it can't go out ...
New Data: The Chinese Government May Claim Credit For COVID-19 Donations but Its the Private Sector That’s Actually Paying For It
The Washington, D.C.-based consultancy RWR Advisory published a set of fascinating new charts that detail China's COVID-19 donation activities over the past couple of months. The firm revealed that although the Chinese government and embassies abroad tend to take credit for donations of PPE and other medical ...
165 Kenyan Evacuees Return Home From China
165 Kenyans stranded in China arrived in the early hours Sunday morning at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Kenyan ambassador to China, Sarah Serem, helped to coordinate the charter flight from Guangzhou back to Nairobi and was at the airport in southern ...
Has the Anti-African Discrimination in Guangzhou Really Been Contained? It Depends Who You Ask
While the Chinese central government and provincial authorities in Guangdong repeat over and over that all the issues that led to the mistreatment of Africans in Guangzhou have been settled, a steady flow of reports that suggest otherwise continues to emerge from the southern Chinese city.
Fact-Checking The Claim That Chinese Medical Aid Received in Ghana Has Been Contaminated With COVID-19
Fake news and other rumors started to circulate widely on Ghanaian social media this month claiming that imported personal protective equipment from China was infected with COVID-19: “As long as they allowed materials from china which contains COVID-19 the number of ...