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

It May Not Look Like Much, But This Handshake Between Xi and Modi is a Big Deal

Chinese President Xi Jinping casually encountered Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Tuesday's gala dinner for G20 leaders.
They looked at each other, smiled, shook hands for an uncomfortably long time, and even exchanged a few pleasantries. It may not look like much, but this brief interaction between Chinese President Xi ...
by Eric Olander

Why Détente Between China and Australia Could Be a Problem for Some Developing Countries

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali on November 15, 2022. Image via Xinhua
Anthony Albanese is the first Australian Prime Minister in six years to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and from the looks of their brief meeting on the sidelines of the ...
by Eric Olander

Even in a Foreign Country, China Made Other Leaders Treat Xi as the Host

US President Joe Biden (R) and China's President Xi Jinping (L) shake hands as they meet on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on November 14, 2022. SAUL LOEB / AFP
One observation that emerged from Tuesday’s flurry of meetings between Chinese President Xi Jinping and various world leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali was that President Xi stood at ...
by Eric Olander

U.S.-led Coalition Rolls Out First Major Infrastructure Project Under the New Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment

Indonesia President Joko Widodo, U.S. President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hold an event on the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on November 15, 2022. SAUL LOEB / AFP
The G7 group of wealthy countries unveiled the first major initiative as part of its Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), which is ostensibly aimed at countering China’s dominance in financing infrastructure ...
by Eric Olander

Biden Expressed Concern to Cambodia PM Hun Sen About What China’s Doing at the Ream Navy Base

US President Joe Biden met with Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh on November 12, 2022. SAUL LOEB / AFP
U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday raised concerns with the leader of Cambodia about Chinese activities at its Ream Naval Base, stressing the importance of full transparency, the White House said. But Chinese state ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese PM Li Heads Home From Cambodia After Another Round of Diplomatic Speed Dating

China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang addressed regional leaders during the ASEAN-China Summit as part of the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits in Phnom Penh on November 11, 2022. TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP
Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang wrapped up a six-day visit to Cambodia on Sunday at the conclusion of a pair of regional summits where he also held a number of sideline bilaterals with ...
by Eric Olander

Why Xi and Modi Should (and Shouldn’t) Meet on the Sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali

ADEK BERRY / AFP
While much of the attention this week at the G20 summit in Bali will be on Monday’s meeting between the U.S. and Chinese presidents, in South Asia, many observers will be keeping a ...
by Eric Olander

Why This European Man Is so Happy to Be in Vietnam

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L) pose for a photo before a bilateral meeting at the Government Office in Hanoi on November 13, 2022. LUONG THAI LINH / POOL / AFP
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz seemed visibly happy to be back in Southeast Asia over the weekend and specifically to be out of China. Chancellor Scholz arrived in Hanoi on Sunday to kick off a four-day visit ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden to Attend Next Week’s G20 Summit in Bali

Chinese President Xi Jinping and United States President Joe Biden. NICOLAS ASFOURI, Nicholas Kamm / AFP
Indonesian President Joko Widodo confirmed that both Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden will attend next week’s G20 summit in Bali but said it’s still not certain if Russian leader ...
by Eric Olander

The China-Shaped Hole in Natural Gas Financing

Source: China’s Global Energy Finance Database, Boston University Global Development Policy Center
The role of natural gas in African green transitions has become a flashpoint as Europe tries to maximize its own access to African natural gas while also discouraging African countries from factoring it ...
by Cobus van Staden

China-Linked Group Will Run Angolan Transport Corridor

Map of the Lobito transport corridor linking the DRC to Angola's Lobito Port
The Angolan government has signed a $450 million agreement with the Portuguese infrastructure group Mota-Engil to run rail and logistics in the Lobito Transport Corridor, which connects Lobito Port to the ...
by Cobus van Staden

Kenya’s Supreme Court to Weigh In on SGR Contract

File image of Kenyan Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Koome (L) and Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mbete Mwilu (R) who will both hear arguments over the legality of the Standard Gauge Railway contract with China Road and Bridge Corporation.
Kenya’s Supreme Court will rule on the legality of the country’s Standard Gauge Railway contract. Opponents say the contract being awarded to China Road and Bridge Corp contravened Kenya’s competitive ...
by Cobus van Staden

China Cuts Import Tariffs for Ten Poor Countries

Zhang Lizhong is China's ambassador to Uganda.
China will cut tariffs on 98% of taxable imports from ten low-income countries. 8,786 different products from Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Malawi, Sao Tome and Principe, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia will ...
by Cobus van Staden

China’s Growing Influence in West Africa

File image of Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo together with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. JASON LEE / POOL / AFP
As former colonial powers like France and the United Kingdom lose their relevance in West Africa, the region is pivoting to China. This trend comes as China’s own confidence in ...
by Cobus van Staden

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 ...

Chinese Oil Buying in Africa Plunges Amid Shift to Suppliers in Russia, Persian Gulf

Chinese oil imports from African countries dropped 22.6% year-on-year in the January-September period, highlighting a decade-long transition away from the continent to suppliers in Russia, the Persian Gulf and Brazil. ...
by Eric Olander

Algeria is the Latest Developing Country to Get in Line to Join the BRICS Group

China's President Xi Jinping (L), Russia's President Vladimir Putin (2nd L), Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro (C), India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2nd R), and South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa (R) attend to a meeting with members of the Business Council and management of the New Development Bank during the BRICS Summit in Brasilia, November 14, 2019. Pavel Golovkin / POOL / AFP
The Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially submitted its application this week to become a new member of the BRICS club. Algeria now joins a growing list of developing countries, ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Said He’s “Not Aware” of Reports Xi Will Travel to Saudi Arabia Next Month

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian speaking at the regular press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday. Image via the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian tried to tamp down mounting speculation that President Xi Jinping will travel to Saudi Arabia next month to attend a pair of summits. Zhao ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese State Media Tries to Put a Positive Spin on Trade Ties With Tanzania

The Communist Party-run tabloid Global Times is trying its very best to send a positive message about the state of China’s trade with Tanzania. On Tuesday, the newspaper featured an ...
by Eric Olander

Just as in Nigeria, Kenyan Lawmakers Are Also Confused About What It Means to Waive “Sovereign Immunity” in Chinese Loan Contracts

Kenyan national broadcaster KTN News interviewed the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Gladys Boss Shollei about the SGR contract with the China Exim Bank.
Anger is mounting across Kenyan society over the terms of the loan agreements with the China Exim Bank for the multi-billion dollar Standard Gauge Railway that were released by the government on Sunday. ...
by Eric Olander

New Undersea Cable Will Link China to a Trio of Countries in Southeast Asia

Image via Singtel.
Six telecom carriers from four countries in Asia signed an agreement to build a new regional undersea high bandwidth cable. The $300 million Asia Link Cable system will stretch 6,000 kilometers from southern ...
by Eric Olander

Kenyans React to Publication of SGR Documents

Cover story of Tuesday's Standard newspaper in Kenya that blasted the new government for failing to provide the full contract for the Standard Gauge Railway.
The decision by the incoming government of Kenya to release some documents relating to the controversial Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway is causing massive controversy at home.  The main reaction has been anger that ...
by Cobus van Staden

People’s Bank of China Exec Blames Debtor Countries for Transparency Issues

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: Debt in developing countries needs better coordination among creditors
As controversy swirls over the role of Chinese lenders in successive Global South debt crises, China is still getting used to its new role as a global financier.  This was one of the ...
by Cobus van Staden

Kenyan Purple Tea Wows Hunan

A cup of Kenyan purple tea, its newest export to China
The first shipment of 240 kilograms of a rare kind of Kenyan purple tea has arrived in Hunan province. The tea, which is a clear lilac color when brewed, is only the latest ...
by Cobus van Staden

Climate, Geopolitics Greatest Threats to African Development: Study

Source: African Futures, ISS
For Africa to achieve its development potential, it needs uninterrupted cooperation with the United States, Europe, and China. This is a key finding of a recent set of future projections by the Institute for Security ...
by Cobus van Staden

Why Kenya Should Have Never Borrowed So Much Money From China to Build the Standard Gauge Railway

The Kenyan national television network KTN broadcast a scathing 10-minute mini-documentary on Sunday that detailed the controversial history of the Standard Gauge Railway and how the lack of proper due diligence set the ...
by Eric Olander

Loan Revelations Spark New Confusion Over Whether Kenya’s Port of Mombasa Can Be Seized by China

There is renewed anxiety in Kenya over whether the Port the Mombasa is at risk of being seized by Chinese creditors in the event that the government fails to repay the loan for ...
by Eric Olander

Even Amid Debt Crisis, Kenya Still Wants to Extend SGR to Ugandan Border

The new Kenyan government says it hopes to extend the Chinese-built SGR to from the Rift Valley all the way to the border with Uganda.
The burgeoning fiscal crisis in Kenya is not dampening the government’s ambition to extend the Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway from the Naivasha in the Rift Valley all the way to Kisumu near the ...
by Eric Olander

Huawei Eyes Expansion in the DR Congo

Executives from Chinese telecom giant Huawei met recently in Kinshasa with DR Congo Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde.
A delegation of senior executives from Huawei’s Africa division met on Friday with Congolese Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde at his office in Kinshasa to discuss “the DRC’s digital development.” No other details about ...
by Eric Olander

Why Sharif’s Recent Visit to Pakistan Wasn’t as Successful as Many Think

Chinese President Xi Jinping posing with visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Image via Xinhua.
Dear Eric and Cobus, Because I know you all care deeply about this topic, I thought I’d share my take on the Pakistan-China relationship and what came out of PM Sharif’s recent Beijing ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Canada To Become Newest Member of the U.S.-Led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF)

US President Joe Biden (2R) and France's President Emmanuel Macron (R) share a light moment as President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen (L) and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau follow on before the family photo at the start of the G7 summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall on June 11, 2021. Ludovic MARIN / AFP
Canada will become the newest member of the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a loose group of Asia-Pacific countries ostensibly aimed at countering China. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the move is part of ...
by Eric Olander
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