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

World Bank Nominee Meets Head of China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

World Bank President-nominee Ajay Banga meets with the head of the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Liqun Jin, on 22 March 2023 during his brief trip to Beijing. Image via @AIIB_Official Twitter Page
World Bank President-nominee Ajay Banga met with the head of the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on Wednesday during his brief trip to Beijing. The AIIB released a short statement after the ...
by Eric Olander

Benin’s Finance Minister Meets With China Exim Bank President

TWEET TRANSLATION: Fruitful working session with Mr. Ren Shengjun, President of EXIMBANK of China. Our discussions focused on the bank's investments in Benin to stimulate our economic development.
Beninese Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni is in Beijing this week, where he met with China Exim Bank President Ren Shengjun. Neither side released details of the meeting, but it does highlight how China ...
by Eric Olander

Key International Stakeholders Gather in Beijing to Discuss How to Bolster African Industrial Supply Chains

China's top diplomat for Sub-Saharan Africa, Wu Peng (top right), United Nations Resident Coordinator for China, Siddharth Chatterjee (bottom left) and Development Reimagined CEO Hannah Ryder (lower right) were among the speakers at the event.
The China-Africa Business Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized a seminar in Beijing this week that brought together high-level representatives from government, industry and civil society to discuss how to increase ...
by Eric Olander

Why the U.S. is Probably Quite Interested in the Equatorial Guinea Foreign Minister’s Visit to China

Equatorial Guinea (EG) Foreign Minister Simeón Oyono Esono Angue began a four-day visit to Beijing on Wednesday, where he will meet with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang. Normally, a visit like this from such ...
by Eric Olander

China’s CMOC Set to Overtake Switzerland’s Glencore as the DR Congo’s Top Cobalt Producer

CMOC Group is forecast to overtake Swiss mining giant Glencore as the largest producer of cobalt when the Chinese company brings another massive mine online later this year. Cobalt is a critical ingredient ...
by Eric Olander

New Foreign Ministry Annex in Ghana and a Newly Refurbished Parliament Building in Malawi Are China’s Latest “Gifts” to African Governments

Chinese ambassador to Ghana Lu Kun together with Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey break ground on the new foreign ministry annex in Accra. Images via the Chinese Embassy in Accra.
Ghana’s Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey was visibly excited to see what her new office will look like in the new $20 million foreign ministry annex building that will be entirely paid for by ...
by Eric Olander

Vietnamese Authorities Seize Tons of Ivory, Most Likely Bound for China

Vietnamese customs authorities in the northern city of Hai Phong seized seven tons of Angolan ivory. Image via the city of Hai Phong.
Vietnamese customs authorities in the northern port city of Hai Phong intercepted a massive seven-ton shipment of illicit ivory that originated in Angola and traveled via Singapore. Inspectors discovered the contraband on Monday after ...
by Eric Olander

Newly-released Sat Photos Show Chinese-funded Navy Base Taking Shape in Cambodia

Satellite imagery of Ream Naval Base from February 2023, annotated to show the shape of the pier extension. Image courtesy of BlackSky.
New satellite photos show that Chinese contractors have made considerable progress in building an extension of the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia. The images taken by the private company Blacksky reveal the submerged ...
by Eric Olander

Taiwan President Heads to Central America to Bolster Ties With Two of the Island’s Last Few Diplomatic Allies

President Tsai Ing-wen will travel to Guatemala and Belize next week to bolster ties with Taiwan's last remaining diplomatic allies. Sam Yeh / AFP
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will embark on a three-nation tour of the Americas that will include a stopover in the United States before heading to Belize and Guatemala, two of Taipei’s last remaining diplomatic ...
by Eric Olander

Publicly, China Says It’s Not Worried About Closer Japan-India Ties

Political cartoon published the Communist Party of Chiuna-run Global Times newspaper that aimed to criticize this week's Japan-India summit in New Delhi. Image via the Global Times.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not formally respond to this week’s Japan-India summit, but as is so often the case, Beijing leveraged the sharp-tongued CPC-run Global Times newspaper to speak on its behalf. ...
by Eric Olander

Evan Feigenbaum on Why Xi’s Russia Visit is Critical for China’s Global South Agenda

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with China's President Xi Jinping at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 20, 2023. Sergei KARPUKHIN / SPUTNIK / AFP
Speculating about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s motives for meeting with Vladimir Putin and whether he’s serious about brokering a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine or just trolling the West has become something ...
by Eric Olander

Russia Knocks Saudi Arabia From Top Spot as China’s Leading Oil Supplier

Source: China's General Administration of Customs via Reuters.
Russia overtook Saudi Arabia in the first two months of the year as China’s largest oil supplier, with purchases surging 24% compared to the same time last year, according to new Chinese customs ...
by Eric Olander

Xi Demands “Severe Punishment” for Assailants Who Killed 9 Chinese Miners in Central African Republic

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the Central African Republic (CAR) to find the attackers who raided a mining company early Sunday morning and killed 9 Chinese nationals. The President called for ...
by Eric Olander

The Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe Takes Aim at Remarks by Washington’s Ambassador-Designate to Harare

The Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe published a blistering response to comments made by U.S. Ambassador-designate Pamela Tremont during her Senate confirmation hearings last week in Washington, D.C. During questioning, Tremont was pressed by ...
by Eric Olander

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 ...

IMF Head Kristalina Georgieva Will Go to Beijing in Bid to Break Debt Relief Impasse With China

File image of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kirstalina Georgieva will travel to China at the end of this week for a visit that will be closely watched by finance ministries throughout the Global South. The primary ...
by Eric Olander

Taiwan’s Next Challenge in the Americas: Paraguay

File image of Chris Dodd, U.S. special presidential adviser for the Americas, who visited Honduras over the weekend in a bid to persuade the government to reverse its decision to abandon diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Brendan Smialowski / AFP
U.S. President Joe Biden dispatched his special envoy for the Americas, former senator Chris Dodd, to Honduras this weekend to convey the White House’s displeasure with the government’s decision to switch diplomatic recognition from ...
by Eric Olander

Taiwan’s Next Challenge in the Americas: Paraguay

File image of Paraguay's President Mario Abdo Benitez (C) and Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen (L) inspecting an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Presidential Office in Taipei on February 16, 2023. Sam Yeh / AFP
A delegation of lawmakers from Paraguay arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for what will be a critical test for Taipei to hold on to one of its last remaining diplomatic allies.  Last September, 
by Eric Olander

Three U.S. Regional Military Commanders Lay Out Their View of the China Challenge in Asia, Africa and the Middle East

AFRICOM commander General Michael Langley (left) and CENTCOM commander General Michael Kurilla both testified before Congress last week in Washington while INDOPACOM commander Admiral John Aquilino spoke in Singapore.
Three of the U.S. military’s regional theater commanders for Asia, Africa and the Middle East spoke publicly last week in testimony and speeches that highlighted how the Pentagon now sees China as its ...
by Eric Olander

China’s 3 Priorities in Africa According to the Top U.S. Military Commander for the Region

General Michael testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week for the first time as commander of U.S. forces in Africa (AFRICOM). Image via the Senate Armed Services Committee.
United States Marine Corps General Michael Langley made his first appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee as the top commander for U.S. forces in Africa or AFRICOM. Langley replaced Army General Stephen ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Fresh off Sealing Iran-Saudi Deal, Chinese President Xi Jinping Next Heads to Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to China's President Xi Jinping during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders' summit in Samarkand on September 16, 2022. Sergei BOBYLYOV / SPUTNIK / AFP
Fresh off his success in brokering a restoration of diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Chinese President Xi Jinping will next head to Russia. Xi reportedly plans to visit Moscow next week where ...
by Eric Olander

Africa is a Popular Destination This Week for Major Power Diplomacy

Chinese Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Xue Bing (left) and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right) were both in Addis Ababa this week, while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (center) visited Egypt. AFP
Senior diplomats from the United States and China, along with the Prime Minister of Denmark, are currently in Africa. No doubt they all have watchful eyes on each other: CHINA: Beijing’s Special ...
by Eric Olander

Sino-Canadian Copper Mining Venture in the DRC Generates $434 Million in Profit

Canadian mining giant Ivanhoe released its 2022 full-year earnings on Monday that revealed the company made a robust profit of $434 million from the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Government Warns AUKUS Submarine Deal Will Trigger a New Arms Race in Asia-Pacific

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Australia's plan to acquire U.S. nuclear submarines threatens the non proliferation treaty (NPT). Image via the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Chinese government warned that the deployment of nuclear-powered attack submarines to Australia would provoke a dangerous new arms race and undermine the increasingly fragile stability in the Asia-Pacific region. Chinese Foreign Ministry ...
by Eric Olander

Uneasy About Australia’s New Submarine Deal with the U.S. and UK, Indonesia Echoes China’s Concerns About Asia-Pacific Arms Race

Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry took to Twitter on Tuesday to restate its longstanding concern that Australia’s acquisition of U.S. and UK-made nuclear-powered attack submarines could destabilize the Asia-Pacific region and violate the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) ...
by Eric Olander

Why “Encirclement” has Become a Chinese Talking Point

This year-old map produced by the UK-based think tank Council on Geostrategy is circulating widely on Twitter this week following Tuesday’s AUKUS summit in California and last week’s comments by President Xi Jinping that ...
by Eric Olander

China Issues Fresh Warning to the Philippines About Expanding Military Ties With the U.S.

For the second time in a week, the Chinese government has issued a warning to the Philippines not to grant the U.S. military access to more bases in the country. An editorial ...
by Eric Olander

State Department Spox: U.S. Not Being Supplanted by China in Mideast as “Some Allege”

U.S. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price addressed the China-brokered deal for Saudi Arabi and Iran to restore diplomatic relation during the regular press briefing on March 13, 2023. Image via the U.S. Department of State.
The U.S. State Department dismissed suggestions that China’s brokering of a diplomatic thaw between Iran and Saudi Arabia reflects a diminishment of the United States’s influence in the Middle East. Spokesperson Ned Price told ...
by Cobus van Staden

Israel Not Happy About the China-Brokered Iran-Saudi Arabia Deal

Iranian and Saudi Arabian negotiators finalized a settlement on Friday to restore diplomatic relations in a deal brokered by China. Image via Xinhua.
Few countries are as directly affected by the Saudi-Iran deal as Israel. The announcement seemed to have caught the Netanyahu government off guard and occasioned intense discussion, with incumbent and opposition politicians ...
by Cobus van Staden

India To Discourage Foreign Trade Settlement in Chinese Yuan – Sources

Johannes EISELE / AFP
India has asked banks and traders to avoid using Chinese yuan to pay for Russian imports, three government officials involved in policy making and two banking sources said, because of long-running political differences ...
by Cobus van Staden

Chinese Blockbuster Wandering Earth II Extends Africa Release With Premiere in Egypt

Wandering Earth II is genuine blockbuster with more than $600 million in global box office revenue. Image via Asia News Today.
The Chinese sci-fi spectacle, The Wandering Earth II, is slowly turning into a global blockbuster. The film debuted to enthusiastic audiences in Egypt after getting similarly positive responses in other African countries, including South ...
by Cobus van Staden
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