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

China’s Envoy to Nairobi Meets With Head of Kenya’s New Ruling Party

Veronica Maina, secretary general of the ruling United Democratic Alliance met with Chinese ambassador Zhou Pingjiang at the Chinese embassy in Nairobi. Image via the Chinese embassy in Nairobi.
A meeting this week between the general secretary of Kenya’s new ruling party, the United Democratic Alliance, and China’s envoy to Nairobi provides a fresh reminder of the dual roles that Chinese ambassadors ...
by Eric Olander

Ghana, IMF Differ Over Whether Chinese Bauxite Deal Should be Counted as Part of the Country’s National Debt

OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP
Ghana is moving to restructure its ballooning debt as part of an IMF rescue plan that’s now under discussion between the two sides. As part of the process, Accra is ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Gold Miner in Zimbabwe Faces Labor Abuse Allegations — Again

Photos of alleged victims of labor mistreatment at the Ming Chang Shao Sino Africa Investments mine in Zimbabwe. Image via New Zimbabwe.
A Chinese mining company in Zimbabwe is under fire for labor abuses. Workers at Odzi Resources Zimbabwe’s gold mine in the Mutare district accuse managers of violence and say operations often breach local laws.  ...
by Cobus van Staden

As China Nitpicks Terms, Asia’s Debt Bomb is Ticking…

The $6 billion China-Laos railway that was built and financed by China and accounts for a sizable portion of Vientiane's debt to Beijing. Image via Xinhua.
As technocrats in Sri Lanka and Laos grapple with renegotiating loans to a variety of creditors, including China, the region’s creeping debt distress is slowly tipping into a full-blown humanitarian disaster.  The situation ...
by Cobus van Staden

Debt Trap or Naivety Trap? China’s Road to Global South Debt Distress

Michael Pettis is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Is China’s part in Global South debt the result of ‘debt trap’ machinations, or over-confidence on Beijing’s part? The prominent China-focused economist Michael Pettis recently unpacked this issue in a Twitter thread:  I’ve long ...
by Cobus van Staden

China-Pakistan Talks on Post-Flood Recovery Start Amid U.S.-China Sniping

Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, Nong Rong, met with Pakistan's Planning Minister to discuss ongoing flood relief operations. Image via the Chinese embassy in Pakistan.
China’s Foreign Ministry clapped back at U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call to Pakistan “to engage China on some of the important issues of debt relief and restructuring so that Pakistan can more quickly ...
by Cobus van Staden

68 Global South Countries Give China Human Rights Cover at the UN

Wang Wenbin is a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In what’s becoming a standard tactic, China used its support across the Global South to counter a proposal from a U.S.-led group of rich democracies for a special debate in the UN Human Rights Council ...
by Cobus van Staden

Apple’s Use of India to Limit its Exposure to China Is Part of a Broader Trend 

File image of Wistron workers, a Taiwanese contract manufacturer near Bangalore, India, that manufactures Apple iPhones. Manjunath Kiran / AFP
The relocation of a portion of Apple’s iPhone 14 manufacturing from China to India is reportedly going surprisingly smoothly, getting underway weeks ahead of schedule. The move is an example of 
by Cobus van Staden

U.S. Builds Mineral Coalition to Displace China

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the start of the Minerals Security Partnership meeting on September 22, 2022, in New York. Craig Ruttle / POOL / AFP
The United States hopes to use its rich allies to channel investment to resource-rich countries in order to cut China out of mineral supply chains. The U.S.-led Minerals ...
by Cobus van Staden

Getting China Out of the U.S. Battery Metal Supply Chain Easier Said Than Done

The United States’s plan to displace China from global mineral supply chains while simultaneously making them more environmentally, socially and governmentally (ESG) sustainable could be a bigger task than U.S government officials would ...
by Cobus van Staden

How Powerful is China in Zimbabwe? New Report Counts the Ways

An infographic in a recent report by the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association, showing Zimbabwe's share of China's chrome imports.
The prominent Zimbabwean environmental NGO, the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), published a new policy brief mapping China’s influence in key Zimbabwean economic sectors, including extractives, utilities and power.
by Cobus van Staden

China Continues Gulf Diplomacy

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Deng Li met with ambassadors from Gulf Cooperation Council countries in Beijing on September 26, 2022. Image via the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
China’s Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deng Li, met with ambassadors from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries on Monday. Envoys from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and other member countries joined the meeting, ...
by Cobus van Staden

A View of the Belt and Road from Southeast Asia

Western press coverage of China’s Belt and Road Initiative is frequently filtered through anxieties about shifts in the West’s own international influence. So it’s very interesting to watch this new documentary about the ...
by Cobus van Staden

New Clues About China’s “Security Through Development” Strategy After Uganda Meeting

Uganda President Yoweri Museveni met with China's Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa at the State House in Entebbe. Image via UBC TV Uganda.
Xue Bing, China’s Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, wrapped up a four-nation tour of the region on Friday in Uganda following a meeting with President Yoweri Museveni at the State House in Entebbe. ...
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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New Kenyan Government “Has No Plans to Scale Down Collaboration With China,” Says National Assembly Speaker

Kenya's Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula met with Chinese Ambassador Zhou Pingjian on September 23, 2022. Image via @HonWetangula.
Speculation that newly-elected Kenyan President William Ruto would pull back on ties with China, as he hinted during his election campaign, was quelled last week when the president’s ally in the National Assembly, ...
by Eric Olander

Kenya Should Look East, Not West, For Development Inspiration Says One of the Country’s Largest Newspapers

Editorial from the Kenyan East African newspaper.
The Editorial Board of The East African newspaper, a publication of the Nation Media Group, one of Kenya’s largest media companies, published a column on Sunday that will be a disappointment to U.S. and ...
by Eric Olander

Ghana’s Embassy in China Says It Had Nothing to Do With Aisha Huang’s Return

The Ghanaian government’s efforts to distance itself from the exploding controversy over the re-arrest of illegal mining kingpin Aisha Huang (aka “the Galamsey Queen”) has now reached the embassy in Beijing, where Ambassador Winfred Nii ...
by Eric Olander

New Chinese-built Vaccine Cold Storage Facility Completed in Egypt on Same Day as Cairo Receives 60 Million Sinovac Jabs

The Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinovac completed construction of a new vaccine cold storage facility in Egypt. Image via Xinhua.
Egypt’s ambition to become an African vaccine manufacturing and distribution hub is now closer to becoming a reality following Saturday’s completion of a new Chinese-built cold storage facility. The new complex, located in ...
by Eric Olander

Why China Should Not Confront the U.S. in the Middle East

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: Niu Xinchun: will there be big a big game (competition) between the United States and China in the Middle East
The Middle East is often seen as a primary theater of competition between the U.S. and China, given the region’s geostrategic importance for both superpowers. While the United States has grown weary of ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Developing Countries in Asia, for the First Time in More Than 30 Years, Will Grow Faster Than China

Journalists watch a screen showing China's President Xi Jinping delivering a speech during the opening of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2021 in Boao, south China's Hainan province on April 20, 2021. STR / AFP
Developing countries in Asia, for the first time in more than 30 years, will grow faster than China, according to a new report by the Asian Development Bank. The bank forecasts China’s annual growth ...
by Eric Olander

Indian External Affairs Minister: Managing China “Hasn’t Been Easy”

Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar speaking with Columbia University Professor Arvind Panagariya in New York on September 21, 2022. Image via @DrSJaishankar.
India’s Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, has admitted that his country’s relationship with China “hasn’t been easy” but said the two should find ways of working together to ensure the “rise of ...
by Cobus van Staden

Pakistan Stocks Up on Chinese-Made Weapons

File image of China's VT-4A battle tank. Image via Xinhua.
Pakistan is reportedly planning to increase its purchases of Chinese-made J-10 CE fighter jets and VT-4 battle tanks. The move will increase Pakistan’s Chinese-made tank arsenal to 680 and its number of Chinese ...
by Cobus van Staden

China Hits Back at Debt Criticism

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin speaking at the regular press briefing in Beijing. Image via the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
China rejected this week’s criticism by Brent Neiman, a top advisor to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, about its “unconventional” approach to debt restructuring.  Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin cited the relative size of Chinese debt ...
by Cobus van Staden

Vietnam-China Ties Warm Up as Trade Flows

A Chinese shopper purchases Trung Nguyen coffee at the Vietnamese company's new flagship store in downtown Shanghai. Image via Trung Ngyuen Legend.
China-Vietnam relations saw a major uptick this week, with new commitments to trade, facilitating the return of foreign students and continued work on a possible code of conduct for the South China Sea.  ...
by Cobus van Staden

Mapping BRI Infrastructure

China’s Belt and Road Initiative is a notoriously hazy concept, and almost a decade after its launch, it can still be difficult to get one’s head around.  The Xavier Collaborative Research Center for Memory ...
by Cobus van Staden

How Does the GDI Fit into China’s Global Development?’

The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) panel discussed China's Global Development Initiative (GDI).
In a speech before the United Nations General Assembly in September 2021, President Xi announced the Global Development Initiative (GDI) which outlines China’s vision to be a global leader in developmental affairs. The ...
by Cobus van Staden

Security, Trade Top Agenda During Wang Yi’s Meeting With Gulf Ministers in New York

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi posing alongside his counterparts from Gulf Cooperation Council countries for a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Image via Xinhua.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met on Tuesday with a group of six ministers from Persian Gulf countries and the General Secretary of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Nayef Al-Hajraf, ...
by Eric Olander

Day Two of Wang Yi’s Speed-Dating Diplomacy in New York

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has met at least seven foreign ministers in his first days in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly gathering.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is taking full advantage of his time in New York to cram in as many meetings with his counterparts, mostly from developing countries, as possible. Wang, who is ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Horn of Africa Special Envoy Arrives in Sudan For Two Days of Talks

Chinese Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Xue Bing, meeting with Sudan's Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Daffallah Al-Haj Ali. Image via the Sudan News Agency.
China’s point man for diplomacy in the Horn of Africa, Xue Bing, landed in Khartoum on Tuesday for two days of talks. Shortly after he arrived, Xue met with Ministry ...
by Eric Olander

China’s Special Rep For Africa Wraps Up Visit to Cameroon

Chinese Special Representative for Africa Liu Yuxi met with Cameroon's Acting Foreign Minister on Monday in Yaoundé. Image via the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
One of China’s top diplomats for Africa, Liu Yuxi, concluded a three-day visit to Cameroon on Tuesday following talks with Chinmoun Oumaru, the Secretary General of the Ministry of External Relations. Liu, the ...
by Eric Olander
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