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

The Chinese Government Is Almost Giddy About the Prospect That U.S. Summit of the Americas Is Going to Be a PR Disaster

A political cartoon published by the nationalist tabloid Global Times. Image via Global Times.
The U.S. Summit of the Americas is set to get underway in Los Angeles on Monday and no one seems more eager for the event to get started than China. Chinese state media ...
by Eric Olander

Unsurprisingly, China Not Happy With Western Media Coverage of Wang Yi’s Pacific Tour

China’s state-run media responded angrily to the characterization by international media that Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s ongoing South Pacific tour encountered a snag after the coalition of 10-Pacific Islander Countries refused to endorse ...
by Eric Olander

Another Prominent Chinese Scholar Explains Why Beijing Shouldn’t be That Concerned About IPEF

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: Some thoughts on the "Indo Pacific Economic Framework"
It’s been one week since the United States unveiled its new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) agenda that is ostensibly intended to build and foster deeper U.S. economic engagement in Asia but ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese EV Giant BYD Looks for Lithium in Africa and Expands Dealer Network in Brazil

Image via BYD.
Two big stories this week about the Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD: BATTERIES: Rather than buy lithium, a key ingredient in EV batteries, on the open market and face steadily rising prices, the company ...
by Eric Olander

Australia Breathes a Big Sigh of Relief After Pacific Island Countries Push Back Against China

Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama shaking hands with visiting Austrlian Foreign Minister Penny Wong. Image via @FijiPM.
You can see from the expression on visiting Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s face the palpable relief from the reception that she received in Fiji over the weekend and, no doubt, to the ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Lending Poses “Serious Danger” to Poor Countries Warns German Chancellor

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives for the first day of a special meeting of the European Council at The European Council Building in Brussels on May 30, 2022. Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz became the latest Western leader to warn about the purported systemic risks to the global economy posed by Chinese lending to developing countries.  Chancellor Scholz ...
by Eric Olander

China’s Tecno and Infinix Ranked Among the Top Brands in Africa

Brand Africa 2021 survey rankings.
Transsion’s Tecno unit slipped a spot to #6 in Brand Africa’s annual ranking of the most admired brands but it still remained firmly in the top ten and was the highest-ranked ...
by Eric Olander

China Celebrates African Business Competition Launched by a Man and His Former Company Who Shall Not Be Named

Chen Xiaodong is China's ambassador to South Africa.
Up until a few years ago, the annual African Business Heroes (ABH) competition was a huge deal, generating massive online excitement. Today, well, not so much. In fact, ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Heavy Rains Are Once Again Pounding South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal Province

Residents of Umlazi township stand over a bridge and watch containers that fell over at a container storage facility following heavy rains and winds in Durban, on April 12, 2022. Phill Magakoe / AFP
Heavy rains are once again pounding South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, no doubt causing serious concern among mining companies in neighboring Zambia and DRCongo who rely heavily on the KZN’s Port of Durban to export ...
by Eric Olander

Wang Yi Lands in the South Pacific With Big Ambitions to Expand Chinese Influence in the Region

Solomon Island's Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele escorts Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi upon arrival at the Henderson International Airport in Honiara. STRINGER / AFP
Great Power politics arrived in the South Pacific on Wednesday night when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and a 20-member entourage landed in the Solomon Islands capital of Honiara. Wang is embarking on a 10-day, seven-nation ...
by Eric Olander

Wang South Pacific Tour Provokes Strong Response From Both Australia and New Zealand

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong at the Akasaka Palace state guest house in Tokyo on May 24, 2022. ISSEI KATO / POOL / AFP
Anxieties in Australia and New Zealand about China’s growing influence in the Solomon Islands and the greater South Pacific had already been running high before Wang’s arrival on Wednesday. Now, however, those worries ...
by Eric Olander

Solomon Islands Media Protest Press Restrictions During Wang’s Visit

The Media Association of Solomon Islands announced that it will boycott a “press conference” on Thursday with Wang Yi and his SI counterpart Jeremiah Manele to protest against rules that only allow the ...
by Eric Olander

Drivers Who Claim They’re Broke Force Chinese Contractor to Re-Think Nairobi Expressway Toll Plan

File image of a toll station on the Nairobi Expressway. Simon MAINA / AFP
It’s been a rocky start for the new Chinese-built Nairobi Expressway that opened to the public two weeks ago. Complaints that the tolls are too high, accidents, and now massive traffic jams have all marred what the ...
by Eric Olander

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Revealing Reactions to China’s Festival of Optics

In terms of geopolitical optics, this week was nothing short of a banquet. It served up at least two sets of images that seem to crystallize our historical moment and that will live on in the Wikipedia of history as shorthand for where the world was in 2025.
One is the waves of uncannily synchronized soldiers and a bewildering array of high-tech weaponry gliding down Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue. The ...

Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe Can’t Stop Talking About the “Malicious Activities” of Another “Foreign Embassy” in Harare

The Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe has been on a tear for the past several weeks, angrily fuming on its Twitter feed and in local press interviews about the “malicious activities” of “#Mr1K” aka a “certain foreign embassy” ...
by Eric Olander

A Chinese Appeal For Compatriots Not to Abuse Local Workers in Africa

Videos of Chinese mine bosses abusing local workers in Rwanda (top left), Democratic Republic of the Congo (top right) and Sierra Leone (bottom).
Earlier this year, the head of security at a Chinese company in Zimbabwe posted videos to his Douyin account (the Chinese equivalent of TikTok) that showed him beating and illegally detaining local workers, according ...
by Eric Olander

GM Begins Exporting Chevy Onix From China To Mexico

SAIC-GM, General Motors’ main joint venture in China, announced on Sunday that it sent the first shipment of 200 Chevy Onix units manufactured at the GM Dong Yue plant to supply the local market of ...
by Eric Olander

Quad Announces Infrastructure, Shipping Initiatives as China Looms Large

US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend the Quad Leaders Summit at Kantei in Tokyo on May 24, 2022. Yuichi Yamazaki / POOL / AFP
The leaders of the United States, India, Japan, and Australia committed to funneling $50 billion in infrastructure to the Indo-Pacific region and will launch a real-time system to track ships. While China wasn’t mentioned by name, ...
by Cobus van Staden

China’s Foreign Minister to Visit Seven Pacific Island States

Map of Wang Yi's itinerary in the Pacific region, via Global Times
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is embarking on a ten-day tour of Pacific Island states this week. Kicking off with the Solomon Islands, the tour will also take Wang to Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, ...
by Cobus van Staden

Once a Leading Player in Kenya’s Mobile Phone Market, Huawei Hopes Budget Phones Will Help It Make a Comeback

The new Y Series budget line of smartphones by Huawei is reportedly poised to launch in Kenya. Image via Huawei.
Huawei’s moribund mobile phone business in Kenya is showing signs of life. The company was once among the dominant mobile phone brands in Africa, including Kenya, but that business all but stopped in 2019 ...
by Eric Olander

China’s New Ambassador to Rwanda A Man of Mystery?

Wang Xuekun (r) being welcomed in Rwanda, image via Xinhua
Wang Xuekun, China’s new ambassador-designate has arrived in Rwanda. While most announcements of new Chinese diplomatic postings highlight the ambassador’s track record in the region, the Foreign Ministry only listed his birth date and: “He ...
by Cobus van Staden

Prominent Chinese Scholar Says If IPEF Has Any Chance of Success, U.S. Will Have To Overcome Two Challenges Simultaneously

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: Liu Zongyi: Can the "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" Disrupt China's Rise?"
This week’s launch of the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) provoked considerable consternation in Beijing about Washington’s ongoing efforts to mobilize coalitions of regional states to challenge China’s dominance in the Asia-Pacific region. ...
by Eric Olander

Western Governments Expected to Fret Anew When Wang Yi Travels to the Solomon Islands to Sign Security Pact

File image of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele at a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 9, 2019. THOMAS PETER / POOL / AFP
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to embark on a three-nation tour of the South Pacific this week that will include a stop in the Solomon Islands where he will ...
by Eric Olander

Lots of Fanfare But Little Real Enthusiasm For New U.S.-Led Economic Pact in Asia

U.S. President Joe Biden formally lifted the veil on the new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) at a ceremony on Monday in Tokyo alongside fellow Quad leaders Fumio Kishida from Japan, India’s Narendra Modi, ...
by Eric Olander

“Quad” Countries Launch High-Tech Plan to Track Chinese Illegal Fishing

(L-R) Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wave to the media prior to the Quad meeting at the Kishida's office in Tokyo on May 24, 2022. STR / AFP
The U.S., Japan, Australia and India, members of the “Quad,” unveiled a new initiative on Tuesday that aims to monitor Chinese illegal fishing in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The new system will use satellite ...
by Cobus van Staden

Zimbabwe’s President and Chinese Business Community Warn of Western Undermining

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa at the State House in Harare. Image via Sunday Mail.
The Zimbabwean president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, and Chinese companies active in the country are both issuing dark warnings that Western governments are paying NGOs to undermine them. This comes against the background of a months-long standoff between Chinese mining ...
by Cobus van Staden

Chinese Contractors Win Guinea Stadium Bid

Graphic animation of the proposed 40,000-seat new stadium in the Guinean capital of Conarky.
The contractors, China Construction Fifth Engineering Division Corp. and China Construction International, won a $298 million contract to build a new soccer stadium in Guinea. While providing stadiums acted as a diplomatic tool for China ...
by Cobus van Staden

Massive Statue by Chinese Artist Rises Over the Benin City of Cotonou

Folashadé Soulé is a senior research associate at Oxford University's Global Economic Governance program.
The 30-meter-high Statue of the Amazon (“Statue de l’Amazone”) is a tribute to the all-female military regiment in the 18th century Kingdom of Dahomey that is now present-day Benin. Chinese artist Li Xiangqun won the ...
by Eric Olander

Amid Backdrop of Anti-Chinese Violence in Pakistan, Foreign Ministers From Both Countries Meet to Reaffirm Ties

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi posing for a photo with his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari during weekend talks in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. Image via China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Pakistan’s new Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari spent the weekend meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.  This was Bilawal’s first official overseas visit since the new Pakistani government ...
by Eric Olander

BRICS Members Back China’s Call to Expand the Bloc

BRICS foreign ministers met virtually to discuss China's proposal to expand the bloc.
Foreign Ministers from the five-nation BRICS group agreed to support China’s call to expand the bloc for the first time in more than a decade when South Africa was added. Member states said in a ...
by Eric Olander
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