China’s Vice President Han Zheng addressed the UN General Assembly on Thursday. Along with retreads of established Chinese positions on Taiwan, Ukraine, and the Israel/Palestine conflict, his comments also provided interesting clues about China’s messaging to the Global South.
First, he called on the international community to “follow the direction of a multipolar world” with the UN at its center. I wonder how opinion within Beijing’s inner circles breaks down around the bipolarity/multipolarity issue, considering ...
Country: Bangladesh
Bangladesh to Apply for Membership to China-Centric Trade Group
Bangladesh will reportedly submit a formal request by September to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a China-led free trade community that represents about 30% of global GDP. The decision was taken at an inter-ministerial meeting on Tuesday. It now requires Cabinet approval, and ...
Chinese Companies Also Want to Limit Their Exposure to China Risk
Western companies like Apple aren’t alone in trying to limit their exposure to China. Chinese companies are increasingly eyeing overseas expansion too. While some of these moves are due to cost factors like lower salaries in countries like Bangladesh, increased geopolitical tensions are playing a growing role.
Qin Gang’s First Foreign Visit as FM Busted Some Conventions
China has made it a 32-year custom that its Foreign Minister's first foreign trip of the year is always to Africa. However, this year Qin Gang broke this tradition by stopping en route in Dhaka for a brief meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart at the airport.
Chinese and Bangladeshi FMs Have a (Very) Early Morning Stopover Meeting in Dhaka
Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen headed to the airport early Tuesday morning to greet his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang at 02:00 while his plane refueled in Dhaka on its way to Ethiopia. The pair went to the VIP lounge for ...
China’s Ambassador to Bangladesh Wants Local Chinese Businesses to Button Everything Up Ahead of 20th Party Congress
The Chinese embassy in Bangladesh organized an online gathering this week for representatives of the local Chinese business community on how to tighten security in their enterprises ahead of the upcoming 20th Party Congress in November. Basically, the embassy wants to ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Unpacking Han Zheng’s Messaging to the Global South at the UN General Assembly
China and Forced Displacement in an Age of Crises
By Hugo Jones The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has estimated that the number of forcibly displaced people across the globe now surpasses 100 million. Weak economic growth, compounded by an emerging food crisis, is likely to inflate this ...
Chinese Vaccines Shipments Around the World Plunge 97% Last Month and We Now Know Why
For much of last year, China was seemingly unstoppable in its drive to ship vaccines to developing countries around the world. Hundreds of millions of doses went to Africa, Latin America, and Asia, and then suddenly, beginning last fall, shipments came to a grinding halt. ...
China Surpassed 1 Billion Vaccine Exports: But What More Can It Do?
By Alex Henderson, Zoe Leung, Marisa Lim, and Christine Ow Global demand for COVID-19 vaccines has never been of higher significance. While many countries have already reached high vaccination rates, new rationales have again increased the relevance of vaccines. In ...