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

WEEK IN REVIEW: The G77 Bloc of Countries Together With China To Propose a New “Loss and Damage” Fund at the COP27 Summit

Protesters take part in a demonstration called by the Climate Alliance European city network in Madrid on November 12, 2022. Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP
The G77 bloc of countries together with China is reportedly going to propose a new “loss and damage” fund at the COP27 summit to provide finance to poor countries impacted by climate disasters. The fund ...
by Eric Olander

China-Mexico Love-In at the G20

Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the final day of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia on November 16, 2022. Image via Xinhua.
Even as the G20 summit focused on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s high-profile meetings, Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Mexican counterpart Marcelo Ebrard. While the full agenda of their meeting wasn’t ...
by Cobus van Staden

As COP27 Races to an Agreement, Things are Getting Real Awkward

AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP
The COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, will soon head into its final stage when delegates will wrestle through the night to finalize the wording of the agreement.  The summit saw the emergence of ...
by Cobus van Staden

EU Border Tax Proposal Sparks BASIC Backlash

Indian Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav during the BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) Ministerial meeting on the sidelines of COP27 climate conference in Egypt. Image via @byadavbjp.
An EU proposal at COP27 to tax carbon-intensive products like cement and steel is drawing resistance from a group of developing countries. At a ministerial meeting of the BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India ...
by Cobus van Staden

China’s COVID Response Boosts Foreign Aid

Source: Chinese Aid Exports Database
China’s donations of physical aid jumped by 40% last year to $1.3 billion. The bulk of these donations were in response to the COVID pandemic, including vaccines and food.
by Eric Olander

Seminar Highlights China-Africa Media Alignment

Representatives from Chinese and African media channels gathered in Nairobi to discuss how to change the China-Africa media narrative to better suit their agendas. Image via KBC.
Chinese and African media professionals committed to working together to reshape media narratives about Africa-China relations. Delegates from the continent gathered in Nairobi for a seminar organized by the state-owned China Media Group. ...
by Cobus van Staden

Xi’s State-Centric Focus an Opportunity for Africa: Analyst

The South African analyst Steven Kuo wrote in a recent column in the financial daily Business Day that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s third term heralds a shift towards state-owned enterprises:  “That means there ...
by Cobus van Staden

Ladies and Gentlemen, Xi Jinping is Back in the Diplomatic Game

Chinese President Xi Jinping held a full day of meetings with eight heads of state including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Australian PM Anthony Albanese, South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol, Senegal President Macky Sall, Argentinian President Alberto Fernández and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
After three years of avoiding major in-person diplomatic engagements, Chinese President Xi Jinping re-emerged on the diplomatic stage with a flurry of at least eight bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 ...
by Eric Olander

It May Not Look Like Much, But This Handshake Between Xi and Modi is a Big Deal

Chinese President Xi Jinping casually encountered Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Tuesday's gala dinner for G20 leaders.
They looked at each other, smiled, shook hands for an uncomfortably long time, and even exchanged a few pleasantries. It may not look like much, but this brief interaction between Chinese President Xi ...
by Eric Olander

Why Détente Between China and Australia Could Be a Problem for Some Developing Countries

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali on November 15, 2022. Image via Xinhua
Anthony Albanese is the first Australian Prime Minister in six years to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and from the looks of their brief meeting on the sidelines of the ...
by Eric Olander

Even in a Foreign Country, China Made Other Leaders Treat Xi as the Host

US President Joe Biden (R) and China's President Xi Jinping (L) shake hands as they meet on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on November 14, 2022. SAUL LOEB / AFP
One observation that emerged from Tuesday’s flurry of meetings between Chinese President Xi Jinping and various world leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali was that President Xi stood at ...
by Eric Olander

U.S.-led Coalition Rolls Out First Major Infrastructure Project Under the New Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment

Indonesia President Joko Widodo, U.S. President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hold an event on the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on November 15, 2022. SAUL LOEB / AFP
The G7 group of wealthy countries unveiled the first major initiative as part of its Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), which is ostensibly aimed at countering China’s dominance in financing infrastructure ...
by Eric Olander

Biden Expressed Concern to Cambodia PM Hun Sen About What China’s Doing at the Ream Navy Base

US President Joe Biden met with Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh on November 12, 2022. SAUL LOEB / AFP
U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday raised concerns with the leader of Cambodia about Chinese activities at its Ream Naval Base, stressing the importance of full transparency, the White House said. But Chinese state ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese PM Li Heads Home From Cambodia After Another Round of Diplomatic Speed Dating

China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang addressed regional leaders during the ASEAN-China Summit as part of the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits in Phnom Penh on November 11, 2022. TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP
Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang wrapped up a six-day visit to Cambodia on Sunday at the conclusion of a pair of regional summits where he also held a number of sideline bilaterals with ...
by Eric Olander

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Revealing Reactions to China’s Festival of Optics

In terms of geopolitical optics, this week was nothing short of a banquet. It served up at least two sets of images that seem to crystallize our historical moment and that will live on in the Wikipedia of history as shorthand for where the world was in 2025.
One is the waves of uncannily synchronized soldiers and a bewildering array of high-tech weaponry gliding down Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue. The ...

Why Xi and Modi Should (and Shouldn’t) Meet on the Sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali

ADEK BERRY / AFP
While much of the attention this week at the G20 summit in Bali will be on Monday’s meeting between the U.S. and Chinese presidents, in South Asia, many observers will be keeping a ...
by Eric Olander

Why This European Man Is so Happy to Be in Vietnam

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L) pose for a photo before a bilateral meeting at the Government Office in Hanoi on November 13, 2022. LUONG THAI LINH / POOL / AFP
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz seemed visibly happy to be back in Southeast Asia over the weekend and specifically to be out of China. Chancellor Scholz arrived in Hanoi on Sunday to kick off a four-day visit ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden to Attend Next Week’s G20 Summit in Bali

Chinese President Xi Jinping and United States President Joe Biden. NICOLAS ASFOURI, Nicholas Kamm / AFP
Indonesian President Joko Widodo confirmed that both Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden will attend next week’s G20 summit in Bali but said it’s still not certain if Russian leader ...
by Eric Olander

The China-Shaped Hole in Natural Gas Financing

Source: China’s Global Energy Finance Database, Boston University Global Development Policy Center
The role of natural gas in African green transitions has become a flashpoint as Europe tries to maximize its own access to African natural gas while also discouraging African countries from factoring it ...
by Cobus van Staden

China-Linked Group Will Run Angolan Transport Corridor

Map of the Lobito transport corridor linking the DRC to Angola's Lobito Port
The Angolan government has signed a $450 million agreement with the Portuguese infrastructure group Mota-Engil to run rail and logistics in the Lobito Transport Corridor, which connects Lobito Port to the ...
by Cobus van Staden

Kenya’s Supreme Court to Weigh In on SGR Contract

File image of Kenyan Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Koome (L) and Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mbete Mwilu (R) who will both hear arguments over the legality of the Standard Gauge Railway contract with China Road and Bridge Corporation.
Kenya’s Supreme Court will rule on the legality of the country’s Standard Gauge Railway contract. Opponents say the contract being awarded to China Road and Bridge Corp contravened Kenya’s competitive ...
by Cobus van Staden

China Cuts Import Tariffs for Ten Poor Countries

Zhang Lizhong is China's ambassador to Uganda.
China will cut tariffs on 98% of taxable imports from ten low-income countries. 8,786 different products from Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Malawi, Sao Tome and Principe, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia will ...
by Cobus van Staden

China’s Growing Influence in West Africa

File image of Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo together with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. JASON LEE / POOL / AFP
As former colonial powers like France and the United Kingdom lose their relevance in West Africa, the region is pivoting to China. This trend comes as China’s own confidence in ...
by Cobus van Staden

Chinese Oil Buying in Africa Plunges Amid Shift to Suppliers in Russia, Persian Gulf

Chinese oil imports from African countries dropped 22.6% year-on-year in the January-September period, highlighting a decade-long transition away from the continent to suppliers in Russia, the Persian Gulf and Brazil. ...
by Eric Olander

Algeria is the Latest Developing Country to Get in Line to Join the BRICS Group

China's President Xi Jinping (L), Russia's President Vladimir Putin (2nd L), Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro (C), India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2nd R), and South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa (R) attend to a meeting with members of the Business Council and management of the New Development Bank during the BRICS Summit in Brasilia, November 14, 2019. Pavel Golovkin / POOL / AFP
The Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially submitted its application this week to become a new member of the BRICS club. Algeria now joins a growing list of developing countries, ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Said He’s “Not Aware” of Reports Xi Will Travel to Saudi Arabia Next Month

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian speaking at the regular press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday. Image via the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian tried to tamp down mounting speculation that President Xi Jinping will travel to Saudi Arabia next month to attend a pair of summits. Zhao ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese State Media Tries to Put a Positive Spin on Trade Ties With Tanzania

The Communist Party-run tabloid Global Times is trying its very best to send a positive message about the state of China’s trade with Tanzania. On Tuesday, the newspaper featured an ...
by Eric Olander

Just as in Nigeria, Kenyan Lawmakers Are Also Confused About What It Means to Waive “Sovereign Immunity” in Chinese Loan Contracts

Kenyan national broadcaster KTN News interviewed the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Gladys Boss Shollei about the SGR contract with the China Exim Bank.
Anger is mounting across Kenyan society over the terms of the loan agreements with the China Exim Bank for the multi-billion dollar Standard Gauge Railway that were released by the government on Sunday. ...
by Eric Olander

New Undersea Cable Will Link China to a Trio of Countries in Southeast Asia

Image via Singtel.
Six telecom carriers from four countries in Asia signed an agreement to build a new regional undersea high bandwidth cable. The $300 million Asia Link Cable system will stretch 6,000 kilometers from southern ...
by Eric Olander

Kenyans React to Publication of SGR Documents

Cover story of Tuesday's Standard newspaper in Kenya that blasted the new government for failing to provide the full contract for the Standard Gauge Railway.
The decision by the incoming government of Kenya to release some documents relating to the controversial Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway is causing massive controversy at home.  The main reaction has been anger that ...
by Cobus van Staden

People’s Bank of China Exec Blames Debtor Countries for Transparency Issues

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: Debt in developing countries needs better coordination among creditors
As controversy swirls over the role of Chinese lenders in successive Global South debt crises, China is still getting used to its new role as a global financier.  This was one of the ...
by Cobus van Staden
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