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The News Feed is curated by CGSP’s editors in Asia and Africa.

WEEK IN REVIEW: China, Russia Set Joint Sea 2025 Drills Near Japan

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping exchange documents during a signing ceremony following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 8, 2025. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
Two gatherings in Beijing on Wednesday set the scene for China’s response to ongoing global economic disruptions. A meeting of the CPC’s Politburo pledged to maintain current macroeconomic policy, to “stabilize the fundamentals of ...
by CGSP Staff

India and the Philippines to Launch Joint Military Exercises

A July 2025 file image of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos reportedly will visit India next week, his first visit since taking office. The trip from 4 to 8 August will coincide with joint military exercises that will take ...
by CGSP Staff

China Reiterates Support for Palestinian State Amid Starvation Crisis

People gather around one of the victims shot by Israeli forces while trying to reach food aid as he lies on the floor at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on July 30, 2025. Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP
China reiterated its long-term support for a Palestinian state this week, adding its voice to recent statements from the United Kingdom, Canada, and France that they could formally recognize statehood at the ...
by CGSP Staff

China Hosts Informal Thailand-Cambodia Peace Talks in Shanghai

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong (C) and Thailand-Cambodia delegation after informal trilateral talks in Shanghai on Wednesday, aiming to reinforce the fragile ceasefire. (Photo: China Foreign Ministry)
China hosted informal trilateral talks in Shanghai on Wednesday involving Cambodian and Thai representatives, aiming to reinforce the fragile ceasefire agreed upon earlier this week following deadly clashes along their disputed border. ...
by Edwin Shri Bimo

Trump’s New Tariff to Impact Indian Economy, Could Reshape Bilateral Ties

Employees iron pockets for shirts at the apparel manufacturing unit at Bhiwandi in the Thane district of India's Maharashtra state on July 30, 2025. (Photo by Indranil MUKHERJEE / AFP)
U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to slap harsh tariffs on Indian exports and a “penalty” on purchases of Russian weapons and energy will cost thousands of jobs and could fundamentally change the nature ...
by Agence France-Presse

“Civil War of Chinese Weapons?” Thai-Cambodian Clash Exposes a Regional Divide in Military Modernization

A selection of Chinese-made weapons captured by Thai forces after a raid on Cambodian positions during the recent border conflict.
A military-focused WeChat public account recently published a detailed post analyzing the border skirmish between Thailand and Cambodia, which has since reportedly ended with a ceasefire agreement. But the post drew attention as it ...
by Han Zhen

From Dali to Kathmandu: Why Burned-Out Chinese Millennials Are Fleeing to Nepal for a Better Chill

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: “Young Chinese Quit Their Jobs and Head to Nepal in Search of a Simpler Life”
As burnout reaches critical levels among China’s young professionals, a new wave of job-quitters is quietly shifting their escape route. Once drawn to the artsy idyll of Dali in Yunnan, many have now set their ...
by Han Zhen

China Says to Hold Military Drills With Russia in August

Chinese Ministry of Defense Spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang speaking at a press briefing in Beijing on July 30, 2025. Image via the Chinese Ministry of Defense.
China said Wednesday it would conduct joint military drills with Russia in August, including sea and air exercises near Vladivostok and joint naval patrols in the Pacific. Alongside economic and political ties, Moscow ...
by Agence France-Presse

U.S. Tariffs Bring Brazil and China Closer Together

A May 2025 file image of Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Beijing. (Photo by TINGSHU WANG / POOL / AFP)
As Brazil stares down the barrel of 50% tariffs on its exports to the United States, China signaled a willingness to expand ties. On Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun was asked by ...
by CGSP Staff

China Plans Global AI Coordination Body

A child shakes hands with a robot during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai on July 28, 2025. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
China proposed an organization to promote global cooperation on artificial intelligence that would also foreground the Global South. Chinese Premier Li Qiang told attendees at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai that ...
by CGSP Staff

Indonesia Avoids U.S. Tariffs Deadline Pending Deal: Minister

Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto in Jakarta on April 8, 2025. Indonesia will avoid the incoming 19 percent U.S. tariff hike on exports scheduled for August 1, as negotiations over the underlying bilateral trade agreement remain ongoing. (Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP)
Indonesia will avoid the incoming 19 percent U.S. tariff hike on exports scheduled for August 1, as negotiations over the underlying bilateral trade agreement remain ongoing, said Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs ...
by Edwin Shri Bimo

China Backs ASEAN-Mediated Cambodia and Thailand Ceasefire

Cambodia’s Hun Manet (L) and Thailand’s Phumtham Wechayachai (R) shake hands as Malaysia’s PM Anwar Ibrahim (C) joins them after ceasefire talks in Putrajaya, July 28, 2025. (Photo: MOHD RASFAN / POOL / AFP)
Cambodia and Thailand agreed to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire on Monday following a special meeting hosted by Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim, as the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ...
by Edwin Shri Bimo

China and U.S. Wrap First Day of Trade Talks

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent leaves Rosenbad after the trade talks between the US and China in Stockholm, Sweden on July 28, 2025. (Photo by Caisa RASMUSSEN / TT NEWS AGENCY / AFP)
By Nioucha Zakavati with Beiyi Seow in Washington Chinese and U.S. officials wrapped the first day in a fresh round of talks in Stockholm on Monday, with the world’s top two economies looking ...
by Agence France-Presse

CK Hutchison Eyes ‘Major’ Chinese Investor for Panama Ports Deal

A cargo ship transits through Panama Canal Cocoli locks in Panama City on February 21, 2025. (Photo by MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP)
By Holmes Chan Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison said Monday it was considering inviting a Chinese “major strategic investor” to join a US-led consortium negotiating the sale of its global ports business outside ...
by Agence France-Presse

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Plugging into African Agency

After several years of declining funding, the African end of the Belt and Road Initiative seems to be roaring back. The newest Griffith University/Green Development Finance Center data on the Belt and Road Initiative shows that engagement with Africa jumped by 395%, while a few big projects boosted engagement in Nigeria alone more than twelvefold.
These shifts indicate a window of opportunity for African electrification. 60% of Africans still ...

Chinese State Media Reacts to Modi’s Maldives Visit

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) shakes hands with the President of Maldives Mohamed Muizzu during their meeting at the President's Office in Male on July 25, 2025.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a $565 million line of credit to the Maldives as part of an official visit this weekend. The visit was interpreted by the Indian press as a ...
by CGSP Staff

Popular Chinese Commentator Deflects Dam Criticism by Turning the Lens on India and the West

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: "China Begins Construction of the World's Largest Project at the Border — India, Don’t Be So Mournful"
As China forges ahead with construction on what may become the world’s largest hydropower project on the Yarlung Tsangpo River, Chinese state-linked voices are mounting a vigorous defense against Indian and Western skepticism. In a ...
by Han Zhen

Congo’s “La Sape” Fashion Culture Through the Unlikely Lens of a Chinese Vlogger

Opening scene from a documentary by popular Chinese travel vlogger Zhang Jun about the Congolese fashion culture known as La Sape.
A newly released 2.5-hour documentary titled The Fashion Bible by Chinese travel vlogger and former state media journalist Zhang Jun, known online as “Uncle Bing” (饼叔), has quietly dropped on the Chinese social video ...
by Han Zhen

WEEK IN REVIEW: Sweden to Host Pivotal U.S.–China Trade Talks

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on February 17, 2025. ( The Yomiuri Shimbun ) (Photo by Ichiro Ohara / Yomiuri / The Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP)
Weihai Yamar Outdoors Product Co., a Chinese maker of camping equipment, was among the 25 entities sanctioned by the UK government for abetting undocumented immigration. The company’s production of small inflatable boats put it ...
by CGSP Staff

Thailand-Cambodia Clash Draws China, U.S. Into Mediation Push

A Cambodian soldier rides a BM-21 rocket launcher in Oddar Meanchey on July 25, 2025. Thailand-Cambodia border clash sparks a mediation race between China and the U.S., testing ASEAN’s ability to manage regional conflict. (Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP)
A 24-hour burst of rockets and artillery on the Thailand-Cambodia border conflict has done more than kill civilians and send 100,000 people fleeing; it has set off a diplomatic sprint that pits China’s ...
by Edwin Shri Bimo

China Says ‘Deeply Concerned’ Over Deadly Cambodia-Thailand Border Clashes

Royal Thai Army soldiers are pictured on armoured vehicles on a road in Chachoengsao province on July 24, 2025. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)
China said Thursday it was “deeply concerned” over deadly clashes between Cambodia and Thailand, which mark a dramatic escalation of a long-running border row between the two neighbors. “We are deeply concerned over ...
by Agence France-Presse

U.S.–Philippines Trade Agreement Terms Still Under Negotiation

The Philippines and the United States will still have to negotiate the details of the trade agreement. (Photo: Philippines PCO - Facebook)
Negotiations between the United States and the Philippines over the details of a new trade agreement remain ongoing, Philippine officials confirmed Thursday, even as both sides finalize the structure of a 19 ...
by Edwin Shri Bimo

China Prominent in AFRICOM Testimony

Air Force Lt. Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson (R) testifying on Tuesday. Image: U.S. Department of Defense
China came up repeatedly in testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services on Tuesday. Air Force Lt. Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson, who is being considered to lead the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), ...
by CGSP Staff

Pacific Military Exercises Reveal Global South Countries’ Complex Choices

A 2023 file image of Exercise Talisman Sabre military exercises in Australia. Photo by ANDREW LEESON / AFP
The Philippines joined other Global South countries like Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Tonga in the U.S.-led Talisman Sabre military exercises currently taking place in Australia. The exercise, dubbed “the Olympics of war ...
by CGSP Staff

U.S. Agrees Trade Deal with Philippines Amid Geopolitical Tension

US President Donald Trump meets with Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 22, 2025. Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social account that the United States will impose 19% tariffs on the Philippines, slightly reduced from the 20% he threatened earlier. The U.S. will ...
by CGSP Staff

U.S.–Indonesia Trade Deal Unveiled with China in the Crosshairs

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. The United States and Indonesia this week unveiled a joint announcement on a reciprocal trade framework that, though never mentioning China by name, echoes its presence at every turn. (Photo: Bay Ismoyo/AFP)
The United States and Indonesia on Tuesday unveiled a joint announcement on a reciprocal trade framework that, though never mentioning China by name, echoes its presence at every turn. While the U.S.-Indonesia ...
by Edwin Shri Bimo

Vietnam’s Growth Surges. But Is It Still a Bargain for Global Manufacturing?

File image of an apparel factory in Hanoi, Vietnam that manufactures activewear for various international clothing brands. Nhac NGUYEN / AFP
Chinese companies are pouring into Vietnam, but rising costs and fragile foundations raise questions about how long the boom can last. Vietnam’s GDP grew 7.52% in the first half of 2025, recording its fastest first-half ...
by Han Zhen

Protest After Chinese-Made Jet Crashes in Bangladesh

College students stage a protest demanding accurate casualty reports, a day after a military training jet crashed into their educational institution in Dhaka on July 22, 2025. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN / AFP)
Bangladeshi Police used tear gas to disperse angry students following the crash of an F-7 BGI Bangladesh Air Force jet into a school in Dhaka on Monday. 31 people were killed, including at ...
by CGSP Staff

BYD Tops Southeast Asia EV Sales, Tesla Drops in Hong Kong

BYD vehicles await export at a Hangzhou terminal, June 2, 2025. (Photo: Long Wei/CFoto via AFP)
BYD overtakes Tesla in Hong Kong and dominates Indonesia’s EV market in the first half of 2025. With tariffs rising in the West, China’s electric vehicle giants are rapidly expanding across Southeast Asia. ...
by Edwin Shri Bimo

China to Feature Prominently in Trump-Marcos Talks

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr (L) meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday, in the run-up to Tuesday's meeting with President Donald Trump. Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. faces a tough challenge as he meets with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, on Tuesday. He is expected to raise the long U.S.-Philippine defense relationship in the face ...
by CGSP Staff
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