Reflections on the legacy of Jiang Zemin, China’s president from 1993 to 2003, who passed away on Wednesday, emphasized how he presided over a decade of explosive economic growth. Fewer have pointed out that he was also a key architect of China’s current relationship with Africa.
After the Mao era, emblematized by Chinese involvement in African anti-colonial struggles, the relationship went dormant as China focused on building economic ties ...
Country: Mozambique
The Stereotypes Are Untrue – Africans Are Not Lazy, Greedy, or Deceitful
Mainstream Chinese perceptions of Africa and Africans are largely very rudimentary, even crude in some instances. In fact, many of the caricatures that are now widely seen in Chinese media are reminiscent of the blatant racism that was prevalent in 20th-century Western movies and television shows that ...
China’s Overseas Fishing Fleet and the Global South
by Chris Alden and Sérgio Chichava While much of the Western attention is focused on the grey zone activities pursued by Chinese fishing fleets and their purported role in the strategic expansion of China’s interests in the South China Sea, less ...
Even Though More Countries Have Received Chinese Vaccines, Distribution Remains Highly Unequal
There does not appear to be any pattern to the inconsistent distribution of Chinese vaccines in Africa over the past 12 months. For much of the year, North African countries accounted for the bulk of deliveries, but that started to change as deliveries increased to southern African ...
Report: China to Provide Enough Vaccines For All Unvaccinated Soldiers in the South African Military
The Chinese government is purportedly donating 300,000 doses of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine to the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to cover any remaining members of the force who aren't fully vaccinated. But the use of Sinovac vaccines in South Africa ...
Huawei’s Training Session in Mozambique Highlights Three Important Trends
China's ambassador to Mozambique, Wang Hejun, personally handed out certificates of completion on Monday to dozens of local government officials who finished a technology training course led by tech giant Huawei. This particular program was unexceptional in that it's just one ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Jiang Zemin Created the Africa-China Relationship As We Know It Today
China’s Love-Hate Relationship With Coal
If you're confused about China's stance on the use of coal, well, you're definitely not alone. This week, China went on a global coal buying binge in a frantic effort to put a stop to rolling ...
African Coal Exporters Benefitting From China’s Ongoing Electricity Crisis
China is scouring the globe for new sources of coal in an effort to stem the blackouts that have afflicted millions of residents and businesses in at least nine provinces over the past several weeks. While the ongoing crisis is now threatening China's post-pandemic ...
Q&A: How Illegal Chinese Logging Fuels the Islamic Insurgency in Mozambique
This Spring’s crackdown on illegal mining activities in Ghana, including by some Chinese nationals, and the recent high-profile incidents of illicit mining by Chinese companies in the eastern DR Congo have put a spotlight on the issue of unregulated Chinese resource extraction in other ...
Almost Every Country in Africa Has Now Received Chinese Vaccines
46 African countries to date have received shipments of Chinese vaccines, either sold, donated, or both, according to the latest update from the Beijing-based consulting firm Bridge's vaccine tracker report. In total, China has shipped 72.3 million doses ...
Week in Review: Crime, COVID and Cables
The Facebook-led 2Africa undersea data cable initiative announced that it will add three more countries to its list of landing sites across Africa. Seychelles, Comoros, and Angola will all be connected to the billion-dollar, 37,000-kilometer cable that will connect Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. In what is ...