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

Chinese Defense Minister Convenes Second China-Africa Peace and Security Forum Ministerial Meeting

Chinese Defense Minister, General Wei Fenghe, delivered the keynote address at Monday's China-Africa Peace and Security Forum Ministerial Meeting. Image via the Chinese Ministry of Defense.
Senior defense officials from at least 48 African countries took part in the second China-Africa Peace and Security Forum Ministerial Meeting that took place online on Monday. General Wei Fenghe, China’s defense minister, delivered ...
by Cobus van Staden

Chinese Authorities Arrest Owner of Car Covered in Nazi Symbols After Israeli Protest

Image via the Israeli Consulate General in Chengdu.
Police in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan arrested the owner of a small passenger car with decals of Nazi symbols on it. The vehicle was brought to the attention of authorities by the ...
by Cobus van Staden

China Gambled When It Lent A Lot of Money to the World’s Poorest Countries. Now Those Bets Are in Real Trouble.

With a growing number of developing countries facing acute debt distress, many to Chinese creditors, Beijing may soon be forced to abandon its long-held policy of refusing to cancel concessional and commercial loans. ...
by Eric Olander

One of Kenya’s Two Leading Presidential Candidates Says He’ll Publish All Chinese Contracts if Elected

Kenya's Deputy President and leading presidential candidate, William Ruto, speaking during an interview at his office in Nairobi on July 18, 2022. Simon Mania/AFP.
Kenya’s presidential front-runner William Ruto made it clear that if he wins next month’s presidential election in Kenya he will publish the multi-billion dollar Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) loan contract with the China Road and ...
by Eric Olander

NYT Columnist Argues China’s Inexperience in Managing a Debt Crisis Poses Systemic Risk for the Global Economy

While rapidly deteriorating economic conditions in developing countries is major news around the world, it barely registers in the United States. So, it was notable on Friday when New York Times Columnist Peter Coy ...
by Eric Olander

While the U.S. Government Wants to Reduce Dependence on Chinese EV Battery Makers, Ford Motor Has Other Plans

JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP
The Ford Motor Company announced a number of important deals with major Chinese mining and battery manufacturers to bolster the supply chain of critical resources needed to power its new line-up of electric ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Warned That Asian Countries Are at Risk of Becoming “Chess Pieces”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (r) at a news conference on July 12 in Kuala Lumpur with Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah. Photo: Andrea Verdelli/Pool/AFP
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that Asian countries are at risk of becoming “chess pieces” in the burgeoning geopolitical rivalry with the United States. Instead, he argued to the ASEAN Secretariat on Monday ...
by Eric Olander

Backgrounder: How Chinese Infrastructure is Reshaping ASEAN Trade

Barges on Guangxi Province's Xijiang River, which will soon be connected to the Beibu Gulf via a new canal. Image via China Daily
Even as China’s territorial wrangles with some of its South China Sea neighbors show no sign of letting up, Chinese infrastructure is taking its trade relations with Southeast Asia to new levels.  In ...
by Cobus van Staden

How India Juggles the Superpowers

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a recent BRICS Summit, Image: Sergio Lima/AFP
As geopolitical groups and counter-groups crowd the landscape, India is seemingly everywhere at once. It is a prominent member of China-aligned groups like the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). It is ...
by Cobus van Staden

Solomon Islands PM Assures Australia It Remains “Security Partner of Choice”

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare (l) meeting with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese in Fiji, image: AFP
Manasseh Sogavare, the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, moved to calm Australian fears about his country’s new security pact with China.  In an interview with The Guardian, Sogavare said there will never be a ...
by Cobus van Staden

China Piled On Debt As Sri Lanka Sank: WSJ

Jonathan Cheng is the China bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal has published a highly critical account of China’s involvement in Sri Lanka’s debt crisis. It quotes current and former Sri Lankan officials claiming that China discouraged them from seeking ...
by Cobus van Staden

China’s Shaky Bet on the Rajapaksa Family

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (l) in an earlier meeting with former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, image via Xinhua
Since Sri Lanka’s ruling Rajapaksa family’s hurried exit as their country descended into chaos, China has been notably quiet. Official responses have been late. When he responded, Zhao Lijian, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, only ...
by Cobus van Staden

Deep Dive: Jose Eduardo dos Santos and the History of the “Angola Model”

A man holds up an Angolan newspaper announcing the death of Jose Eduardo dos Santos. The headline reads: "Angola loses a great statesman." Photo: Julio Pacheco Ntela/AFP
The death of Angola’s former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos on 8 July, brought to an end a pivotal Africa-China relationship, one that reshaped the whole continent’s relationship with the rising superpower.  This ...
by Cobus van Staden

Chinese-Invested Portuguese Company Wins Crucial Logistics Concession in Angola

File image of the Lobito train station in Angola.
Portuguese construction major Mota-Engil outbid three Chinese state-owned companies, CITIC, Sinotrans, and CR20, to win a 30-year concession to operate the strategically important Lobito Corridor that connects the copper/cobalt belt in the southern DRC and northern Zambia ...
by Eric Olander

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

BRICS Announces Numerous New Initiatives

The BRICS group wrapped up its two-day leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. The summit’s final communique is a 16,000-word doorstop that covers numerous issues from economics to education.
The communique avoids any direct mention of the United States, and references to “unilateralism” and other coded criticism are also relatively scarce. Rather, the communique keeps the focus on the BRICS’ vision of the strengthening and reform of the global multilateral system ...

Will China Finally Accept Kenyan Avocadoes? Maybe!

Kenyan avocadoes. Image: AFP File
Chinese agricultural inspectors have concluded an audit of Kenyan avocado crops and warehouses, raising hopes that exports to China can finally begin. The audit is only the latest hurdle facing farmers hoping to ...
by Cobus van Staden

Iran to Become Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member by 2023

File image of the exterior of Shanghai Cooperation Organization conference venue.
Iran will become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in April 2023, according to the Chinese state newspaper Global Times. Iran has lobbied to join the Eurasia-spanning group for more than a decade, ...
by Cobus van Staden

For Some Weird Reason, CGTN Doesn’t Want to Say Huawei by Name in a Report About the Company in Kenya

For some reason, the Chinese state broadcaster CGTN went out of its way to avoid naming Huawei by name in a recent report about the company’s role as the primary technology service provider for Safaricom’s ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Weapons and Military Equipment Are Showing Up on the Battlefields of the Eastern DR Congo

Chinese-made weapons and military equipment are in wide use by the Congolese rebel group M23 and other factions battling in the eastern DRC, according to an investigation by the DRC news publication Politico.cd. “M23 ...
by Eric Olander

A Glimpse into China’s Senior Diplomat’s Visit to Africa and Asia

China's top foreign policy official, Yang Jiechi, with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi on July 1, 2022. Image via Xinhua.
Yang Jiechi, one of China’s most senior foreign policy officials and a politburo member, visited Pakistan, The UAE, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe earlier this month and gave a rare interview to Xinhua about his ...
by Cobus van Staden

Chinese Lithium Giant Expands into Argentina

File image of raw lithium. Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash
The Chinese battery metals company Ganfeng Lithium Co. will spend $962 million to buy 100% of the Argentinian lithium compounds producer Lithea. The company owns lithium salt lakes with a capacity of 30,000 ...
by Cobus van Staden

Blinken Calls on China, ASEAN to Put Pressure on Mynamar Junta

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaking at a press conference in Bangkok on July 10, 2022. Stefani Reynolds / POOL / AFP
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged China and members of the ten-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to collectively pressure the military government in Myanmar to return to democracy. “It is incumbent ...
by Eric Olander

Zambia Expected to Finalize Debt Restructuring Deal By the End of the Month

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema at the Leaders' Retreat on the sidelines of day six of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali on June 25, 2022. Dan Kitwood/POOL/AFP
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 ...
by Eric Olander

Maritime Issues Could Headline the Next High-Level Chinese Tour of Africa

Wu Peng is China's top diplomat for Sub-Saharan Africa.
China’s most senior diplomat for Sub-Saharan Africa announced that Special Representative on African Affairs, Xu Jinghu, has kicked off an 8-nation African tour. The Foreign Ministry hasn’t provided any information about her visit besides ...
by Eric Olander

Reports: Saudi Arabia Eyeing Chinese Stealth Fighter Jets

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: China offers its most powerful stealth aircraft to Saudi Arabia
It appears that sources within the Saudi Arabian Royal Air Force are leaking information about their apparent interest in acquiring and possibly even manufacturing FC-31s, China’s most advanced stealth fighter jet. Saudi news ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Chinese Foreign Direct Investment in BRI Countries Jumped 10.2% in the First Five Months of the Year

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivering his keynote address at FOCAC 8. Image via Xinhua.
Chinese foreign direct investment in BRI countries jumped 10.2% to $8.2 billion in the first five months of the year, according to new data from the Chinese government. Singapore, Indonesia and Pakistan were among ...
by Eric Olander

Forget Cobalt, Lithium is the Key Strategic Resource

Tesla’s across-the-fleet price increase this month was due in part to supply constraints of key metals used to manufacture electric vehicle batteries, specifically lithium.   While the price of cobalt and nickel have steadily fallen ...
by Eric Olander

U.S. Tries to Stem the Flow of Iranian Oil to China

Antony Blinken is the United States Secretary of State.
The United States government on Wednesday imposed new sanctions against Iranian oil companies and the network of firms that help facilitate the flow of Iranian crude to markets in East Asia, specifically China. Every ...
by Eric Olander

Algeria to Purchase Chinese Armed Drones

File image of the WJ-700 armed reconnaissance drone manufactured by The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Image via CASC.
The Algerian military is reportedly in talks with China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) to purchase four of the company’s WJ-700 Falcon armed reconnaissance drones, according to Algerian press reports. Algiers hopes the ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Tech and Mining Companies Team Up to Build First 5G Connected Mine in Southern Africa

Zijin Garatau platinum mine in Limpopo, South Africa will be the southern Africa region’s first 5G-enabled smart metal mine.
The South African subsidiary of Chinese mining giant Zijin will build southern Africa’s first-ever 5G connected mine using Huawei technology. South Africa Zijin Platinum contracted with SA telco major MTN to build the ...
by Eric Olander

Split Views in Africa Over China’s Push to Build Parliaments and Other Government Buildings Across the Continent

Nancy Kacungira is a Ugandan presenter and reporter at BBC News.
The imminent handover of the newly-built Zimbabwe parliament building that was almost entirely paid for by the Chinese government has prompted a lively debate online about China’s so-called “Palace Diplomacy” in Africa. Opinions about the ...
by Eric Olander
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Developing Countries’ Debt Servicing Costs to China Are Significant, but Nowhere Near as Much as Other Creditors
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Indonesia Goes Nuclear, Taps China and Russia for Modular Reactors
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