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 ...
Country: France
WEEK IN REVIEW: China-IMF Debt Standoff | France’s “New” Africa Strategy | SA Naval Exercises
The G20 finance ministers meeting in India came and went without any progress on the debt standoff between China and the IMF/World Bank over who should take losses on loans to the world's poorest countries. ...
Has France Just Taken a Page out of China’s Playbook?
By Lukas Fiala With great powers bickering over an impasse in the debt negotiations while reheating the ‘lab leak theory’ in the debate on the origins of COVID-19, it seems we’re once again far away from a constructive solution to some ...
With an Eye on China and Russia, Macron (Again) Tries to Reboot France’s Strategy in Africa
France needs to approach Africa with ‘profound humility’ to make up for its colonial past. This is the message from French President Emmanuel Macron, who is embarking on an African tour in part aimed at rejuvenating Paris’s engagement with a continent where its image remains shaped by its colonial ...
Wang Yi Makes Unannounced Visit to Uzbekistan on His Way to Europe
China's top foreign policy official, Wang Yi, made an unannounced stopover in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent to meet with acting foreign minister Bakhtiyor Saidov. After the meeting, Wang then traveled to Paris, where he met with French President ...
Paris Club Calls Out China Over Sri Lankan Debt Relief
The Paris Club of wealthy creditor states turned up the pressure on China to resolve the current impasse that's blocking debt relief for Sri Lanka and other developing countries. “The Paris Club members as well as Hungary and Saudi ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Xi Bets on Global South in Moscow
Africa is Now a VERY Popular Destination For Western Ministers and High-Ranking Diplomats
For years, China was largely alone in regularly dispatching its foreign ministers and high-ranking diplomats to tour Africa. That is no longer the case as U.S., European and Russian diplomats are fanning out across the continent faster than they have in years.
The China-Mediterranean Observer: How China looks at the Med
The most interesting articles published in Chinese media in August revolve around the future of the Iranian nuclear deal and, more broadly, Iran’s role in the Middle East. Chinese experts also commented on the end of France’s Operation Barkhane in Mali, as well as the rising great ...
Chinese Creditors Agree to Landmark Debt Restructuring Deal With Zambia
The Franco-Chinese-led Creditor Committee for Zambia announced a landmark agreement over the weekend to cancel $2 billion of the country's bilateral debts. The deal includes unprecedented concessions from a coalition of Chinese lenders that includes the China Exim Bank.
Zambia Expected to Finalize Debt Restructuring Deal By the End of the Month
Zambia appears to be edging closer to a debt restructuring deal with its official creditors. Insiders tell Reuters it could happen sometime in July. Some sort of arrangement between the Zambian government and the Franco-Chinese-led Creditor Committee would ...
Zambia’s Debt Talks Set to Get Underway But Final Deal Not Expected This Month
After months of delays, all of Zambia's international creditors will finally convene on Thursday to work out the details of how to restructure the country's $17.3 billion of external debt. The inaugural meeting of the official ...