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

Chinese Sci-Fi Blockbuster Wandering Earth 2 to Open in Southern Africa

The Chinese movie hit “Wandering Earth 2” will open next week in four southern African countries beginning with South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe on March 10th, followed by Zambia the week after. The science ...
by Eric Olander

IMF Head Flatly Rejects China’s Call for Multilateral Development Banks to Take Losses on Loans: “Not Possible”

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva spoke with Bloomberg TV following last weekend's debt roundtable at the G20 finance minister and central bank leaders meeting in India. Image via Bloomberg.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva flatly rejected China’s demand for multilateral development banks (MDBs) to accept losses or “haircuts” for loans to the world’s poorest countries. “Not possible” she bluntly ...
by Cobus van Staden

Germany’s Ambassador to Ghana Explains Why He Thinks China is Hesitating to Set Up a Creditor Committee

German ambassador to Ghana Daniel Krull at a press conference in Accra. Image via GhanaWeb.
The German government is advocating on behalf of Ghana for China to stop stalling in the creation of a new Creditor Committee that will restructure Accra’s debts. Last week, Ghana officially became the second ...
by Cobus van Staden

With an Eye on China and Russia, Macron (Again) Tries to Reboot France’s Strategy in Africa

President Emmanuel Macron outlined France's revamped strategy for Africa during a speech at the Elysee Palace in Paris on February 27, 2023. Stefano Rellandini / POOL / AFP
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 ...
by Cobus van Staden

Top Chinese Communist Party Official Visits Ruling Party Leaders in Kenya, Tanzania

Deputy Minister of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the CPC Central Committee Li Mingxiang met with ruling party officials in both Kenya and Tanzania this week.
In-person party-to-party exchanges between Communist Party of China (CPC) officials and African counterparts are ramping up again. Li Mingxiang, the Vice Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, recently visited 
by Cobus van Staden

Kenya’s Ambassador to China Leaves Unexpectedly

Wu Peng is China's top diplomat for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Kenya’s outgoing ambassador to China, Mary Muthoni, is leaving her post after only ten months on the job, far less than her predecessor, who spent three years in Beijing. The Ministry of Foreign ...
by Cobus van Staden

U.S. Discussed Debt Issues With China While Also Hinting Beijing Uses Loans for “Coercive Leverage” in South Asia

United States' Secretary of Treasury, Janet Yellen addressed the media during a news conference at the G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies in Bengaluru on February 23, 2023. Manjunath KIRAN / AFP
There was a hint of optimism going into Saturday’s debt roundtable organized by India, the World Bank and the IMF that the U.S. and China might be able to find some common ground. ...
by Eric Olander

Xinhua: The U.S. Deliberately Distorts Chinas’s Role in the African Debt Crisis

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: Three Truths About Africa's Debt That the U.S. Deliberately Distorts
The burgeoning debt crisis in a growing number of African countries is increasingly seen by the Chinese government as another front in Beijing’s competition with Western powers like the U.S. A recent article ...
by Eric Olander

When it Comes to the Global South Debt Crisis, the Chinese Message is Clear: Don’t Talk About China, Just Focus on the West

HEADLINE LINE TRANSLATION: On the eve of global debt conference, the West is speculating again about "China Debt Traps" again, experts explain
Chinese scholars and U.S. and European officials seem to follow the same playbook on debt. Both sides are highly selective in their assessment of the worsening debt crisis in developing countries by focusing ...
by Eric Olander

Gyude Moore: Future of Global Development Finance System at Risk if China Wins Stand-off With IMF, World Bank

OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP
If China is successful in its effort to force multilateral development banks (MDB) like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to accept the same kind of writedowns (known as ‘haircuts’) on ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Tanzania Approves Construction of New Controversial $3.5 Billion Sino-French East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP)

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has dismissed concerns about human rights and environmental damage expressed by the European Parliament relating to the new East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). BADRU KATUMBA / AFP
The Tanzanian government approved the construction of a new $3.5 billion pipeline as part of the controversial Sino-French East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). The 1,443km pipeline will transport crude from new oil ...
by Eric Olander

Pentagon Not Happy About South African Naval Exercises But Won’t Admit It Publicly

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh speaks during an on-camera press briefing at the Pentagon on February 22, 2023. Image via the United States Departemnt of Defense.
The United States military is staying largely quiet over the ongoing joint naval exercises in South Africa that include Russia and China. Earlier, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs Chidi ...
by Cobus van Staden

Major Powers Express Ambivalence Going Into This Weekend’s Critical G20 Debt Relief Talks in Bangalore

The main conference center for the G20's finance minister and central bank leaders conference that will be held over the weekend. Handout / PIB / AFP
As major powers head into this week’s G20 talks on debt restructuring, the mood is grim. The outcome of the talks will be decisive for Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring process and ...
by Cobus van Staden

Sharply Contrasting Views on Whether China is Right to Demand Multilateral Development Banks to Take Losses on Their Loans

Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP
The dispute between China and Western lenders about how Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) should take part in debt restructuring goes beyond current U.S.-China tensions. Rather, it relates to the fundamental question of how ...
by Cobus van Staden

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

The G20 Summit and the Half-Life of a Joke

When it was announced in 2023 that the African Union would become a full member of the G20, I darkly joked on a podcast that the AU’s entry into the body could very well mark the moment the G20 lost its status as one of the most important global coordination forums. Mark my words, I said, soon The Economist will be like “Uhhh, the G20 is OVER – it’s the ...

DR Congo Buys Nine Chinese Attack Drones for Use in War Against M23 Rebels

The Congolese military is hoping that Chinese-made CH-4 attack drones like this one will help in the fight against rebeles in the eastern DRC. Image via Xinhua.
The Congolese government is stepping up the fight against M23 rebels with the purchase of nine Chinese CH-4 attack drones, according to a report in Africa Intelligence. The first batch of ...
by Cobus van Staden

What is Xi Jinping’s Global Security Initiative? New Government Document Gives Clues

Copies of the Chinese government's new concept paper on the Global Security Initiative
Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the Global Security Initiative in 2022, but since then, the initiative has raised more questions than answers. Now, a new concept paper has been put out by the ...
by Cobus van Staden

Sri Lanka President to Meet With Chinese Finance Minister in Bid to Unblock Debt Relief

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will personally try to persuade China to match Colombo's other creditors as part of a debt restructuring deal. Mohammed ABED / AFP
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will meet with Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun on Friday for what’s been described as “a last-ditch effort” to get Beijing to align with Colombo’s other creditors ...
by Eric Olander

Ghana’s Finance Minister Will Go to Beijing This Week Seeking Debt Relief

Ghanaian Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta will go to Beijing this week to try and re-negotiate $1.7 billion of outstanding debt to China. SAUL LOEB / AFP
Ghanaian Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta will head to Beijing on Friday in a bid to re-negotiate Accra’s $1.7 billion debt owed to Chinese creditors. The West African country has
by Eric Olander

South Africa’s Decrepit Railway Infrastructure is Slowing Iron Ore Shipments to China

More than a million tons of South African iron ore is blocked from leaving the country, mostly bound for China, due to SA’s failing railway infrastructure. The local unit of ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese, International Analysts Differ Markedly on Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s Visit to Beijing

Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomes the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during his visit in Beijing on February 14, 2023. AFP
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to China earlier this month, when he met with his counterpart Xi Jinping, drew a lot of international attention. However, Chinese experts differ sharply from their international counterparts ...
by Eric Olander

Toxic Politics to Blame if G20’s Debt Relief Efforts Fail, Says Deborah Brautigam

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Wang Yi, then China's foreign minister, attend a meeting in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on July 9, 2022. Stefani Reynolds / POOL / AFP
Vulnerable societies like Zambia could be crushed if geopolitics are allowed to hijack debt renegotiation processes. So warns the Africa-China and debt expert Deborah Brautigam in a recent article in Foreign Affairs. The ...
by Cobus van Staden

Chinese Fleet Arrives in South Africa for Controversial Joint Exercises With Russia

File image of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy guided missle destroyer Huainan that will take part in the Mosi II joint naval exercises with Russia and South Africa. Image via the PLA Navy.
The 42nd Chinese naval escort fleet that includes the guided-missile destroyer Huainan and the missile frigate Rizhao arrived on Sunday in South Africa’s Port of Richards Bay to participate in this week’s controversial ...
by Cobus van Staden

Chinese Weapons Manufacturers Take Part in UAE Arms Show

One of nine Chinese arms manufacturers participating in the ongoing 16th International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi. Image via China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND).
Nine Chinese arms manufacturers are taking part in the 16th International Defense Exhibition and Conference, a military technology expo in the United Arab Emirates, the first time since China’s COVID-related shutdowns. Chinese companies ...
by Cobus van Staden

Why China Must Partner With Global South Countries to Build a “New International System”

File image of Yang Ping, editor in chief of the influential Beijing Cultural Review and director of the Longway Foundation that published the Review.
China should respond to pressures from the United States and its allies by building a new global system based on coalitions with Global South countries. So argues Yang Ping, the publisher and editor-in-chief of the ...
by Cobus van Staden

IMF Considers Circumventing China for Sri Lanka’s Emergency Debt Relief

OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP
The International Monetary Fund may have found a way to unblock the impasse with China that’s blocked Sri Lanka’s $2.9 billion emergency financial package. The IMF, according to Bloomberg, is actively considering invoking a rarely ...
by Eric Olander

China Resumes High-Level Diplomatic Visits to Africa

Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlun met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Cape Town on February 16, 2023. Image via Xinhua.
Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan met late last week with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during a brief visit to Cape Town. Sun’s visit comes one month after Foreign Minister Qin Gang did ...
by Eric Olander

South Africa Begins Controversial Naval Exercises With Russia and China

A general view of Russian military frigate 'Admiral Gorshkov' docked in the harbour of Cape Town on February 13, 2023 ahead of 10-day joint maritime drills being staged alongside South Africa and China. AFP
The South African navy kicked off ten days of drills in the Indian Ocean on Friday with visiting warships from Russia and China. The naval exercises, known as Operation Mosi II, have sparked ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Russian Military Frigate Docked in Cape Town, on the Way to Controversial Joint Military Exercises With China and South Africa

File image of a Chinese warship docked in Cape Town that took part in the 2018 first Operation Mosi naval exercises with the South African and Russian navies. Image via Xinhua.
A Russian military frigate has docked in South Africa’s Cape Town harbor, on the way to controversial joint military exercises with China and South Africa. Operation Mosi will take place off the coast of ...
by Eric Olander

China Sticking to Its Position That Multilateral Banks and Bondholders Must Also Take Losses on Sri Lankan Debt

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin restated Beijing's position on debt relief for Sri Lanka at the regular press briefing on February 15, 2023. Image via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Chinese government re-stated on Wednesday that it will not move forward with the Sri Lankan debt restructuring process unless both commercial creditors and multilateral development banks also agree to accept losses on ...
by Eric Olander

Malpass Resignation Could Spark New Battle Between U.S. and China Over His Replacement

File image of outgoing World Bank President David Malpass who will leave office one year ahead of schedule. Jim WATSON / AFP
World Bank President David Malpass said that he will step down in June, a year before his five-year term expires. Malpass did not provide a reason for his early resignation but speculation in ...
by Eric Olander
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