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

Prominent Chinese Africa Expert on U.S. Troops’ Return to Somalia

Image via Global Times.
The Biden administration’s decision to return U.S. troops to Somalia has sparked reaction from one of China’s foremost Africa experts. From her position at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, He Wenping played ...
by Cobus van Staden

Biden’s IPEF Plan Gets Lukewarm Reaction in Asia

U.S. President Joe Biden is greeted by Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi upon arrival in Yokota Air Base in Fussa, Tokyo prefecture on May 22, 2022. SAUL LOEB / AFP
U.S. President Joe Biden is in Asia for his first official presidential visit to South Korea and Japan. One of the main goals of the trip, which kicked off on Friday, is ...
by Cobus van Staden

WEEK IN REVIEW: Zimbabwean Government Accuses the U.S. of Paying Local Journalists to Write Negative Stories About China

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa (L) stands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 3, 2018. GREG BAKER / AFP
The Zimbabwean government is once again accusing the U.S. of paying local journalists to write negative stories about Chinese investment in the country. The state-run Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday that the U.S. embassy ...
by Eric Olander

The Philippines New President Tells Xi He Wants Ties With China to “Shift to a Higher Gear”

Presumptive Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during a rally in Las Pinas City, suburban Manila, on March 13, 2022. JAM STA ROSA / AFP
Philippines President-elect Ferdinand Marcos said he plans to expand ties with China when he assumes office on June 30th. The incoming president told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in a phone call on Wednesday that ...
by Eric Olander

Why Chinese Manufacturers Are Leaving the Pearl River Delta to Go to Vietnam

File image of a Maxport factory in Hanoi that activewear for various textile clothing brands. Nhac NGUYEN / AFP
International companies are by no means alone in looking to move their supply chains out of China. A growing number of Chinese manufacturers are doing the same, albeit for very different reasons. While ...
by Eric Olander

USAID Head’s House Testimony A Glimpse of U.S.-China Polarization

US Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, on May 17, 2022. Jose Luis Magana / AFP
The United States’ development agenda in the Global South is increasingly dominated by the determination to contain China’s global influence. This became clear during budget testimony on Wednesday by Samantha Power, the head of the ...
by Cobus van Staden

Japan and Turkey Targeting China in Africa

File image of Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi. JANEK SKARZYNSKI / AFP
Containing China’s influence in Africa isn’t only a Western preoccupation. Two key non-Western partners to the continent are increasingly framing their engagement in similar terms. Japan and Turkey are both reframing their Africa ...
by Cobus van Staden

Could China Ease South Africa’s Electricity Woes?

Gianluigi GUERCIA / AFP
Radio702, a prominent news and talk radio station in South Africa, this week discussed whether China might be able to help the country out of its ongoing electricity crisis. The power issue is back in ...
by Cobus van Staden

Kenya’s New Nairobi Expressway is Popular. Its Tolls? Not So Much

It’s been a week since Kenya’s Chinese-built Nairobi Expressway opened to the public. The road itself is very popular, but comments on Twitter make clear that users aren’t in love with the cost ...
by Cobus van Staden

Kenyan Avocado Farmers Will Have to Jump Through One More Hoop Before Exports to China Can Begin

File image of an avocado farmer in Kandara, central Kenya. KEVIN MIDIGO / AFP
The Kenyan government’s years-long effort to export fresh avocados to China ran into yet another obstacle this week when Chinese authorities informed Nairobi that another round of audits will be required before shipments ...
by Eric Olander

So Far, The New Chinese-Built Nairobi Expressway Isn’t Doing Much to Relieve Traffic Congestion

This is what critics of the new Nairobi Expressway feared would happen: that a select few wealthy motorists would be able to afford the tolls while everyone else is relegated to the side ...
by Eric Olander

Nigeria’s China-Friendly Transport Minister Resigns to Run for President

File photo of Nigerian Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi. PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP
Rotimi Amaechi formally resigned on Tuesday from his position as Nigeria’s minister of transportation. The move is in preparation to compete in Nigeria’s upcoming presidential election, scheduled for February 2023.   During his ...
by Cobus van Staden

Stalled Chinese Financing Complicates Buhari’s Infrastructure Legacy

The fluctuations of Chinese lending to Nigeria, graph via Bloomberg
Nigeria’s presidential race is officially on, but many are wondering how China will shape the fortunes of the ruling All Progressives Congress, the party of the current front-runner Rotimi Amaechi, the country’s former transport minister. ...
by Cobus van Staden

Engagement Between Chinese Policy Banks and African Governments Continue Despite Funding Pull-Back

The current pull-back in infrastructure financing from Chinese policy banks is scrambling the funding options for African infrastructure. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the reduction in lending is permanent or that Chinese ...
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 ...

DRC Cobalt Shipments to China Resume Via the Port of Durban

File image of cobalt production facility in the southern DR Congo city of Lumbubashi. SAMIR TOUNSI / AFP
Cargo vessels loaded with Congolese cobalt are once again making their way to China now that port operations in Durban are beginning to recover. The port was shut for weeks after severe floods last month blocked the ...
by Eric Olander

Unhappy With Continued Reliance on China for Critical Minerals, U.S. Senators Push Biden to Act

In a rare display of bipartisanship, a group of U.S. Senators this week sent letters to four cabinet members expressing their frustration over the administration’s lack of progress in using funds allocated by Congress in ...
by Eric Olander

“Chinatown is Closed! Close the Shop or We Burn the Shop Down”

Screenshot from video showing Namibia Economic Freedom Fights' attack on Chinese business owners in Windhoek
A growing anti-immigrant movement in South Africa says it is now targeting not only undocumented immigrants, but even those with residency permits doing low-skilled work. Operation Dudula (“force out” in isiZulu) made clear they ...
by Cobus van Staden

UK Reshapes Foreign Aid Strategy to Confront China 

File image of British Secretary for Foreign Affairs Liz Truss at a meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affair on Ukraine in Berlin on May 15, 2022. Bernd von Jutrczenka / POOL / AFP
The United Kingdom has announced major shifts in its foreign aid strategy. These changes put the UK in closer alignment with the United States, and redirect aid spending toward geopolitical goals, particularly containing China’s ...
by Cobus van Staden

Top U.S. Treasury Official Issues Veiled Warnings to African Countries About the Risks of Borrowing From China

File image of U.S. Deputy Secretary of Treasury Wally Adeyemo. JOHANNA GERON / POOL / AFP
Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo repeated longstanding warnings to African ministers about the dangers of borrowing from China in a virtual speech before the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and ...
by Eric Olander

Is China Planning a New Military Base in Africa? New Paper Weighs the Options

File image of a Jin-class nuclear submarine of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy. (Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/POOL/AFP)
Rumors that China is planning another military base in Africa are rife in Washington at the moment. Now a new paper by Paul Nantulya, a noted expert on Africa-China military links, was published by the ...
by Cobus van Staden

Military Links Between China and Iran More Than Meets the Eye

Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on April 27, 2022. Image via The Chinese Ministry of National Defense.
The visit to Iran by China’s defense minister Wei Fenghe in late April was more than a routine meeting. A new article by the defense experts Tuvia Gering and Jason M. Brodsky argues ...
by Cobus van Staden

Argentina Could Be Joining BRICS

File image of Argentinian President Alberto Fernández meeting in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics on February 6, 2022. Image via Xinhua.
🇦🇷 Argentina could become a member of the BRICS group. Argentinian officials are joining a flurry of upcoming events with counterparts from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the bloc’s five permanent ...
by Cobus van Staden

Speed is the One of the Key Hallmarks of Chinese Infrastructure Diplomacy in Africa

TWEET TRANSLATION: Today I visited the Kinsuka station site, the new flagship project for energy cooperation between ???? . 10 months after President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi laid the cornerstone, more than 50% of the work has been completed. Two million Kinshasa households will benefit.
Chinese ambassador to the DR Congo, Zhu Jing, touted the rapid pace of construction of the new Kinsuka power station that’s being built by Shanghai Power in the capital Kinshasa. Just 10 months ...
by Eric Olander

Motorists Respond to Nairobi Expressway Grand Opening

Excerpt from Kenyan YouTuber Dolphine254's maiden trip on the Nairobi Expressway.
Kenyan social media influencers were among the lucky few that were invited to drive along the Nairobi Expressway during this weekend’s public trial. Not surprisingly, the reactions were overwhelmingly positive on both YouTube and ...
by Eric Olander

DRC Industry Minister Meets With Two Key Chinese Players in the EV Battery Business

Julien Paluku is the Industry Minister for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
A meeting last week between a pair of senior Chinese executives and the DR Congo’s Industry Minister, Julien Paluku, hints that the government is moving to expand domestic processing of raw materials used ...
by Eric Olander

Regulation, Security Raise Hurdles for Chinese Companies in Somalia: Ambassador

A screenshot from a recent interview with Fei Shengchao, China's ambassador to Somalia
Fei Shengchao, China’s ambassador to Somalia, recently sat down with a reporter from the Somali news service Goobjoog, for a rare television interview. In the clips released by the embassy, he addressed problems ...
by Cobus van Staden

Chinese Public Security Officials Meet with Nigerian Delegation on Security

Chinese Diplomatic, business and security stakeholders who participated in last week's security working group discussion.
🇳🇬 Officials from China’s Ministry of Public Security met with Nigerian counterparts and representatives from Chinese companies, to discuss ongoing security threats to Chinese nationals in the country. The session particularly focused on repeated ...
by Cobus van Staden

TikTok’s Chinese Parent Company Targets African Teens With New Messaging App

LetsChat is Bytedance's new app that is specifically aimed at Africa's enormous youth market.
Bytedance, parent company of the enormously successful social video app TikTok, launched a new mobile messaging app that targets Africa’s huge teen market. The new app will combine music and messaging features with ...
by Eric Olander

U.S. Under Secretary Underplays New Cold War While Leaning Into Battery Metals Race with China

U.S. Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Jose W Fernandez. Image via @State_E
The United States doesn’t want to force countries to choose between it and China, as long as Chinese investments follow “the highest standards,” according to US Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy ...
by Cobus van Staden

Nairobi Expressway Signals Shift in Belt and Road Financing

Wu Peng is China's top diplomat for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Kenya’s new Nairobi Expressway is finally open to traffic. Transport Minister James Macharia commissioned the new Chinese-built intra-city highway on Saturday, ahead of its upcoming official launch.  The 27-kilometer road cost ...
by Cobus van Staden
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