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

China’s Debt Relief Offer For Sri Lanka May Not Be Enough to Satisfy IMF, Say Insiders

File image of the exterior of the IMF headquarter building in Washington, D.C. MANDEL NGAN / AFP
Sri Lanka’s desperately-needed financial lifeline from the International Monetary Fund may be in jeopardy due to an insufficient debt restructuring offer from China, Colombo’s largest bilateral creditor. The IMF is requiring that Sri Lanka ...
by Eric Olander

Indian FM Accuses Opposition Leader of Intentionally Spreading False Information About China Border Issue

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar attacked domestic political rivals over the weekend when he accused them of misreprenting India-China tensions. Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP
Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar accused rivals of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of intentionally spreading false information about the government’s handling of the border disputes with China. Jaishankar refuted comments made by Congress Party ...
by Eric Olander

Dubious Rumor Spreading On Pakistani Twitter Xi Jinping Will Soon Visit

Unsubstantiated rumors started to spread on Pakistani Twitter over the weekend that Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the country and, more specifically, inaugurate a new Chinese-built airport in the port city of Gwadar. ...
by Eric Olander

Now It’s the EU’s Turn to Try and Change South Africa’s Mind About Russia and Upcoming Joint Naval Exercises With China

European Union foreign policy lead Josep Borrell was the latest foreign official to try and persuade South Africa's international relations minister Naledi Pandor to change its position on Russia. Image via @DIRCO_ZA.
The European Union’s top foreign policy official Josep Borrell is the latest foreign dignitary to pass through Pretoria in what appears to be a vain effort to persuade South Africa’s international relations minister ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Brazil Warns That Mercosur in Jeopardy if Uruguay Signs a Free Trade Agreement With China

Newly re-elected Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (left) met with his Uruguayan counterpart Luis Lacalle Pou to discuss a controversial trade pact between Montevideo and Beijing. Dante Fernandez / AFP
Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira warned that the South American Common Market known as Mercosur is in jeopardy if Uruguay signs a free trade agreement with China. Viera told the Folha de Sao Paulo ...
by Eric Olander

It’s Been a Big Week for Chinese Infrastructure Development in Africa

The new Lagos light rail in Nigeria (top left), the Lekki Deep Sea Port, also in Lagos (top right), the Kingfisher oil drilling platform in Uganda (lower left) and the Central African Cultural and Arts Center in Kinshasa that's still under construction (bottom right).
Two U.S. cabinet secretaries are currently touring Africa to fulfill President Joe Biden’s promise that the United States is “all in” when it comes to bolstering ties with countries across the continent. A key ...
by Eric Olander

Hard to Believe But Huawei’s Still Got a Smartphone Business in South Africa

The Huawei Mate50 high-end smartphone will go on sale in South Africa on February 1st. Image via Huawei.
Even though Huawei’s mobile phone business is just a fraction of the size it was before the U.S. slapped crippling sanctions on the company, blocking it from using Google and other American technology, ...
by Eric Olander

China’s Ambassador to the DR Congo to Leave

Outgoing Chinese ambassador to the DR Congo, Zhu Jing, during a vist to say good-bye to Defense Minister Gilbert Kabanda. Image via Luben Today.
Chinese ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo stopped by the Defense Ministry in Kinshasa this week to say goodbye to Minister Gilbert Kabanda.  Zhu also left a parting gift of $27 ...
by Eric Olander

Massive New Chinese-financed Cultural Center Takes Shape in Kinshasa

Three years after Chinese contractors broke ground to build the new Central African Cultural and Arts Center in the DR Congo capital of Kinshasa, the 36,000-square-meter development is now taking shape. Outgoing Chinese ambassador to ...
by Eric Olander

Countries in Asia and the Americas Account For Half of China’s Total Auto Exports

China is on the verge of displacing Germany to become the world’s second-largest auto exporting nation (Japan is #1). This is a remarkable accomplishment given the speed that China’s automakers have gained international ...
by Eric Olander

China Tells Janet Yellen U.S. Is in No Position To Criticize Beijing on Debt Issues in Zambia

The Chinese embassy in Zambia's angry response to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's accusation this week that Beijing is a "barrier" in the debt restructuring process.
The Chinese embassy in Lusaka clapped back at U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for her remarks that Beijing was acting as a “barrier” in Zambia’s drawn-out debt restructuring process. In a sharply worded ...
by Eric Olander

The South African Government May Be Edging Closer to China, Russia But Its People Seem to Prefer the West, Says New Poll

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday during the last stop of her ten-day, three-nation Africa tour. Yellen’s arrival in Pretoria comes one day after a ...
by Eric Olander

Why Chinese Lending to Pacific Island Countries Has Steadily Declined in Recent Years

Source: Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map
Chinese lending to Pacific Island Countries (PICs) is now at its lowest level in 15 years, according to new data published by the Australian think tank Lowy Institute. The findings may come as ...
by Eric Olander

Xi Issues Call For Solidarity Among Developing Nations in Video Address to Latin American Leaders Summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaking remotely to leaders at the seventh Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Image via Xinhua.
Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the final day of a leaders summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, where he renewed calls for closer coordination among ...
by Eric Olander

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

The Pain of Un-Polarity

“THE G2 WILL BE CONVENING SHORTLY!”
This post by U.S. President Donald Trump in the run-up to his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week may end up leaving a more lasting mark than the actual summit he attended.

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Washington’s Top Commander for U.S. Forces in the Americas Says China’s Growing Presence in the Region ‘Keeps Her Up At Night’

The top commander for U.S. military forces in the Western Hemisphere, General Laura Richardson, speaks out regularly on the growing Chinese presence in the Americas. Image via The Atlantic Council.
Prior to his retirement last year, the top commander for U.S. forces in Africa, General Stephen Townsend, was among the most vocal Pentagon officials on the perceived threat posed by China to U.S. ...
by Eric Olander

China’s Overseas Development Finance Totaled $10.5 Billion in 2020-21, Lowest in Recent Years

China’s Overseas Development Finance by Year, 2008-2021. Source: Boston University Global Development Policy Center, 2023.
By Rebecca Ray After providing a staggering amount of finance for overseas development projects in the wake of the global financial crisis, Chinese overseas development finance has been on a general downward trend for several ...
by BU Global Development Policy Ctr.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Blames China for Delays in Zambia Debt Restructuring

United States Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen (center) is welcomed by Zambian president Hakainde Hichilema (right) during her visit to Zambia at the State House in Lusaka on January 23, 2023. SALIM DAWOOD / AFP
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen accused China of blocking progress for Zambia’s drawn-out debt restructuring process that is now entering its second year. “I know the Chinese have been a barrier to concluding the ...
by Cobus van Staden

Lavrov Visit and Upcoming Joint Naval Exercises With China Spark Anger in South Africa

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor speak at a joint press conference in Pretoria on January 23, 2023. PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP
The South African government is coming under intense criticism for welcoming Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and for next month’s joint naval exercises with both Russia and China. SA Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor dismissed ...
by Cobus van Staden

Uganda to Become Africa’s Newest Oil Exporting Country With Inauguration of New Chinese-operated Drilling in Lake Albert

The Kingfisher oil field in Lake Albert will be officially commissioned on Friday by President Yoweri Museveni.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s long-held ambition to export oil via the controversial East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) will move closer to reality on Tuesday when he commissions the country’s first new drilling ...
by Cobus van Staden

Buhari Commissions Port of Lekki, One of China’s Most Consequential Infrastructure Projects in Africa

Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari cutting the ribbon to open the new $1.5 billion Chinese-built Lekki Port in Lagos, West Africa's largest deep water port.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari officially opened West Africa’s largest port facility on Tuesday when he commissioned the new Lekki Deep Sea Port in Lagos State. The opening coincided with the docking of the ...
by Cobus van Staden

No Blackface in This Year’s Spring Gala TV Show, Actual Africans Performed Instead

Tanzanian singer Corona Kila performed in this year's CCTV Spring Gala TV program that's watched by hundreds of millions on the eve of Lunar New Year in China.
The producers of this year’s Spring Gala television variety show in China appear to have learned from recent scandals around Chinese actors in blackface appearing in the hugely popular annual Lunar New Year ...
by Cobus van Staden

WEEK IN REVIEW: U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on an 11-Day, Three-Nation Tour of Africa

Onye Nkuzi is the nom de plume for a widely-followed Nigerian political commentator.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will leave Tuesday on an 11-day, three-nation tour of Africa that Biden administration officials say is intended to rejuvenate ties on the continent and counter Chinese influence. Yellen will visit ...
by Eric Olander

Dalai Lama Invite Complicates China-Sri Lanka Cooperation

Sri Lanka’s desperate attempts to get China’s support for its debt restructuring could be blown up from the inside. This follows an invitation from senior Buddhist clerics to the Dalai Lama to visit the ...
by Cobus van Staden

Is the DRC Making Progress in Reshaping Its Controversial Chinese Deals? Maybe.

Aerial view of the Chinese joint venture Sicomines copper and cobalt mining facility in Kowlezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Image via Sicomines.
The Democratic Republic of Congo could be closer to overhauling two controversial Chinese deals. Finance Minister Nicolas Kazadi told Reuters the government is in active talks with Sicomines, a joint venture between the DRC’s ...
by Christian Geraud Neema Byamungu

Chinese Expert: Global North’s Sudden Concern about Global South Reflects Power Shift

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: Xiang Haoyu: Why do Western powers suddenly care about the "Global South"?
As China’s decades-long focus on South-South cooperation results in strong relationships throughout the developing world, Global North powers like the United States and Japan are suddenly discovering their concern for the Global South ...
by Cobus van Staden

The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka Goes on a Furious Twitter Rant to Rebut U.S. Ambassador’s “Spoiler” Accusations

The Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka did not take well to U.S. Ambassador Julie Chung’s accusation that China is a potential “spoiler” in the South Asian country’s debt restructuring process. The embassy was ...
by Eric Olander

It Won’t Come as a Surprise That Indians Are Skeptical of China, But New Poll Reveals Lots of Ambivalence About the U.S. Too

There’s an emerging consensus in U.S. national security circles that bolstering ties with India will be the best way to confront China’s surging influence in the Asia-Pacific region. But if that is the ...
by Eric Olander

China’s Ties With India Will be Competitive and Confrontational Says Leading India Scholar

Sino-India analyst Liu Zongyi, a senior fellow at the Shanghai Institutes of International Studies, speaking at an online event organized by Renmin University. Image via Remin University.
One of China’s leading India scholars, Liu Zongyi, a senior fellow at the prestigious Shanghai Institute for International Studies (SIIS), outlined a grim vision for the future of Sino-Indian relations, warning that they’ll ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Social Media’s Unusual Response to the Indonesian Labor Riots

Chinese censors took down all posts about the Indonesian worker revolt at a Chinese-owned nickel processing plant last week from reputable news outlets but permitted individuals like this user to share content about the riots.
Production is up and running again at a Chinese-owned nickel smelting plant in Indonesia following last week’s violent uprising by laborers over poor working conditions. Two people, one Chinese and one Indonesian, were ...
by Eric Olander

South African Rail Company Puts Out Tender to Fix Faulty Chinese-Made Trains

South Africa’s state railway company Transnet has put out a tender for any company that can fix non-operational Chinese-made locomotives acquired under a corrupt deal. The original manufacturer of the locomotives, China Railway Rolling ...
by Cobus van Staden
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