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

Why China Building a Small Power Plant in a Small Congolese Town is Such a Big Deal

Chinese contractors signed a contract to build a power plant in the small town of Kenge, 269 kilometers outside of Kinshasa.
A consortium of Chinese entrepreneurs based in Angola recently signed an agreement to build an electric power generation facility in the small Congolese city of Kenge, 269 kilometers west of the capital Kinshasa, according ...
by Eric Olander

Almost Every Major Kenyan Newspaper Published Column by Chinese Ambassador That Refutes Debt Trap Accusation

Headlines from major Kenyan newspapers. They all published the same column by Chinese Ambassador Zhou Pingjian that refuted allegations of predatory lending.
An unusual phenomenon occurred in Kenya over the past few days: the country’s normally competitive newspapers all ran the same column written by China’s envoy to Nairobi, Zhou Pingjian. Normally, newspapers insist on exclusivity ...
by Eric Olander

The Chinese Internet Turned on Lu Ke, the Culprit in the BBC’s “Racism for Sale” Documentary

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: Hot Comments: Internet Celebrities Who Do Shameful Things Have Only Themselves to Blame
For years, the Chinese internet reflexively defended all compatriots against any charges of anti-Black discrimination or racism. “China and Chinese people DO NOT DISCRIMINATE. Period.” was the line that came back against any ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Iran Is the Second Country This Week, After Argentina, to Submit an Application to Join the BRICS Club

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in Wuxi on Jan 14, 2022. Image via Xinhua.
Iran is the second country this week, after Argentina, to submit an application to join the BRICS club. The BRICS group is increasingly seen by both Beijing and Moscow as a potential alternative to ...
by Eric Olander

Maybe The West’s Pressure on China to Build “High Quality” Infrastructure is Working

A Xinhua headline from Wednesday hints that years of criticism of low-quality Chinese-built infrastructure in developing countries may be having its desired effect. Chinese messaging on these issues used to focus on the speed ...
by Eric Olander

Fears of Chinese Predatory Lending in Central Asia

Niva Yao is a specialist in China-Central Asian affairs and a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
The Chairman of Kyrgyzstan’s Council of Ministers, Akylbek Zhaparov, repeated debunked accusations on Wednesday that China seized strategic assets in both Pakistan and Sri Lanka when they couldn’t afford to repay their debts. He warned ...
by Eric Olander

UAE’s Ambassador to China Meets With Sinopharm President to Discuss Future Cooperation

UAE Ambassador to China, Ali Obaid Al Dhaheri meeting with Mr. Liu Jingchen, President of Sinopharm, at the embassy in Beijing to discuss future cooperation. Image via @UAEEmbChina.
The UAE’s ambassador to China, Ali Obaid Al Dhaheri, met with the President of Sinopharm, Liu Jinchen, at the embassy in Beijing this week to discuss how the two sides can enhance their current ...
by Eric Olander

Tucker Carlson: China is Colonizing Countries in the Western Hemisphere

Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the most popular cable talk show personality in the United States, is hosting his show from Brazil this week and warning that the “Chinese military is establishing a ...
by Eric Olander

World Bank: Don’t Blame the Pandemic For the Global South Debt Crisis

Two leading World Bank economists issued a stinging rebuke against policymakers in developing countries who have blamed the worsening debt crisis on the pandemic.  “The seeds were sown long before COVID-19,” wrote Marcello Estevão and ...
by Eric Olander

Construction of the Chinese-financed Parliament Building in Zimbabwe is Done

The new Zimbabwe parliament building located on Mount Hampden outside of Harare.
After almost five years and $140 million, the new Chinese-financed and built parliament building in Zimbabwe is now ready for use. The building was almost entirely paid for by the Chinese government and ...
by Eric Olander

No Surprise, Chinese State Media Didn’t Think Much of PGII, But They Actually Raised a Few Interesting Points

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: "The G7 is going to raise $600 billion for a major project to "counter China." Where will the money come from?"
The Chinese nationalist tabloid Global Times was among the first to launch broadsides against the G7’s latest effort to challenge the Belt and Road. Predictably, the paper interviewed several scholars who all discredited ...
by Cobus van Staden

PGII Will Channel a Lot of Private Capital to Developing Countries But What About the Debt?

US President Joe Biden speaks next to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the first day of the G7 leaders' summit held at Elmau Castle, southern Germany on June 26, 2022. JONATHAN ERNST / POOL / AFP
Even as the G7 was unveiling its new Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII), protesters in the Alpine town hosting the summit were calling for more action on infrastructure-related debt. This ...
by Cobus van Staden

Prominent China Scholar Maps a Way Out For Beijing’s Global South Debt Crisis

Exterior of the China Development Bank Tower in Shanghai.
With the global economy steadily sliding towards recession, a growing number of Chinese bankers are no doubt becoming increasingly nervous about whether they’ll ever see again the tens of billions of dollars they lent ...
by Cobus van Staden

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

China-Led Study Proposes Global Energy Network

A globally connected network of solar and wind energy could provide three times the global energy demand by 2050 at a lower cost than independent national power systems. This is the finding of a study led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in collaboration with researchers from the United States and Denmark.
The study focused on how areas with high solar and wind capacity (such as deserts) can be linked ...

Tuvalu Minister Pulls out of U.N. Ocean Conference After China Blocks Its Taiwanese Delegates

File image of Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe. AFP.
Simon Kofe, the foreign minister of Tuvalu, pulled out of the United Nations Ocean Conference opening in Portugal on Monday after China blocked the participation of three Taiwanese included in the tiny Pacific ...
by Cobus van Staden

Communist Party of China Reaches Out to Nigerian Political Parties

An announcement of the meeting between the CPC and Nigerian political officials on the Chinese embassy in Abuja's Twitter feed
Nigeria’s Inter-Party Advisory Council, an umbrella organization representing all the country’s registered political parties, held a joint seminar with the Chinese embassy and the International Department of the Central Committee of ...
by Cobus van Staden

B3W 2.0: The $600 Billion “Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment”

US President Joe Biden speaks next to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the first day of the G7 leaders' summit held at Elmau Castle, southern Germany on June 26, 2022. JONATHAN ERNST / POOL / AFP
G7 leaders unveiled their latest effort to challenge China’s Belt and Road Initiative with the announcement of the “Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII).” The new plan was revealed on Sunday at the leaders’ ...
by Eric Olander

U.S. Forms Coalition to Break China’s Hold on Critical Mineral Supply Chains

File image of cobalt processing facility in the DR Congo city of Lumbubashi. SAMIR TOUNSI / AFP
The United States, along with partner countries in North America, Europe, and Asia unveiled a new Mineral Security Partnership (MSP) pact earlier this month that aims to challenge ...
by Eric Olander

U.S. and Its Allies in Asia Form New Group to Counter China’s Rising Influence in the South Pacific

File image of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama at a joint press conference in Fiji's capital city Suva. Leon LORD / AFP
The United States formed yet another coalition with a catchy tagline intended to push back against China’s growing clout, this time in the South Pacific.  The ...
by Eric Olander

USAID Emails Reveal Anxiety Over China’s Solomon Islands Security Pact

U.S. government emails accessed via a Freedom of Information request that reveal unease over China's security pact with the Solomon Islands. Image via USAID.
Newly-released emails obtained by Al Jazeera through a Freedom of Information request highlight U.S. unease over China’s recent security agreement with the Solomon Islands. “Yikes! This is very troubling,” 
by Eric Olander

China, Iran Aim to Boost Trade Through New Railway

TWEET TRANSLATION: The first international cargo "crossing the Caspian Sea" departed from Yinchuan in the northwest to the port of Anzali. The train is scheduled to arrive in the port of Anzali in northern Iran in about 20 days.
A new railway cargo line connecting the southwestern Chinese province of Ningxia with the northern Iranian port city of Anzali is now operational.  The new 8,500-kilometer route is supposedly twice as ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: The United States To Re-launch B3W at Next Week’s G7 Conference

U.S. President Joe Biden tours the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Arvada, Colorado, on September 14, 2021, before delivering a speech on the infrastructure deal and the Build Back Better agenda. Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP
The United States will re-launch the Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative at next week’s G7 conference with a new program that aims to provide an alternative to Chinese infrastructure financing in the Global South. National ...
by Eric Olander

BRICS Summit Raises Questions About Shared Agenda

File image of the five leaders from the BRICS countries who will convene virtually this week. Sergio LIMA / AFP
This week’s BRICS summit sets the stage for renewed wrangles around the bloc’s future role. The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa will meet virtually on Thursday to discuss cooperation on issues like ...
by Eric Olander

Israel’s Shakshuka Diplomacy in China

Israel's Consul General in Guangzhou appeared on a Chinese cooking show, and the occasion was packaged for the press back home by the Israeli foreign ministry.
China’s efforts to promote itself to foreign audiences frequently take the form of stiffly-produced TV inserts on traditional cuisine and historical festivals.  But China isn’t alone in this game – sometimes, it goes ...
by Eric Olander

COVID Lockdowns Hit Cobalt Prices

File image of cobalt processing facility in the DR Congo city of Lumbubashi. SAMIR TOUNSI / AFP
Chinese cobalt prices fell about 13% from a peak in May as China’s ongoing COVID lockdowns hit demand for electric vehicles.  The dynamic reveals a gap between the Chinese domestic price for the metal ...
by Eric Olander

Corruption Documentary Rocks China-Guyana Relations

Guyana’s ruling party faces controversy following a documentary by the U.S. media outlet VICE alleging that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo took bribes from a Chinese businessman. President Irfaan Ali rejected calls by opposition parties in the ...
by Eric Olander

Despite Controversy, the Video Industry Exposed by the BBC’s Racism Documentary Is Thriving

A still from the BBC documentary "Racism for Sale," showing the producer Runako Celina with stills from the hundreds of "well-wishing" videos featuring African children.
Even as Chinese diplomats scramble to distance themselves from the trade in videos featuring African children coached to repeat demeaning phrases in Mandarin, the “well-wishing video” industry exposed by the recent BBC documentary ...
by Eric Olander

Life at the Heart of Africa-China Trade 

File image of an African trader negotiating with a Chinese merchant in Yiwu. Image via Xinhua.
COVID and government crackdowns have hollowed out Guangzhou’s once-thriving African community. While many of these traders have left China, some are relocating to Yiwu. The city, in Zhejiang province, is one of the ...
by Eric Olander

UK’s New Special Envoy Signals Contrast to China’s Approach in the Horn of Africa

Sarah Montgomery is the UK's newly appointed Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa and Red Sea.
The United Kingdom has announced that it’s appointing a special envoy to the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region. Sarah Montgomery has experience in the Persian Gulf, Iran and Yemen.  She will ...
by Eric Olander

Worsening Criminal Attacks on Chinese in DRC 

Attacks against Chinese nationals in the DRC’s mining provinces of Lualaba and Haut-Katanga are worsening. Chinese community groups have listed ten violent incidents in the region since late May.  The city of Lubumbashi has seen ...
by Eric Olander
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