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

China’s Shaky Bet on the Rajapaksa Family

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (l) in an earlier meeting with former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, image via Xinhua
Since Sri Lanka’s ruling Rajapaksa family’s hurried exit as their country descended into chaos, China has been notably quiet. Official responses have been late. When he responded, Zhao Lijian, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, only ...
by Cobus van Staden

Deep Dive: Jose Eduardo dos Santos and the History of the “Angola Model”

A man holds up an Angolan newspaper announcing the death of Jose Eduardo dos Santos. The headline reads: "Angola loses a great statesman." Photo: Julio Pacheco Ntela/AFP
The death of Angola’s former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos on 8 July, brought to an end a pivotal Africa-China relationship, one that reshaped the whole continent’s relationship with the rising superpower.  This ...
by Cobus van Staden

Chinese-Invested Portuguese Company Wins Crucial Logistics Concession in Angola

File image of the Lobito train station in Angola.
Portuguese construction major Mota-Engil outbid three Chinese state-owned companies, CITIC, Sinotrans, and CR20, to win a 30-year concession to operate the strategically important Lobito Corridor that connects the copper/cobalt belt in the southern DRC and northern Zambia ...
by Eric Olander

Will China Finally Accept Kenyan Avocadoes? Maybe!

Kenyan avocadoes. Image: AFP File
Chinese agricultural inspectors have concluded an audit of Kenyan avocado crops and warehouses, raising hopes that exports to China can finally begin. The audit is only the latest hurdle facing farmers hoping to ...
by Cobus van Staden

Iran to Become Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member by 2023

File image of the exterior of Shanghai Cooperation Organization conference venue.
Iran will become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in April 2023, according to the Chinese state newspaper Global Times. Iran has lobbied to join the Eurasia-spanning group for more than a decade, ...
by Cobus van Staden

For Some Weird Reason, CGTN Doesn’t Want to Say Huawei by Name in a Report About the Company in Kenya

For some reason, the Chinese state broadcaster CGTN went out of its way to avoid naming Huawei by name in a recent report about the company’s role as the primary technology service provider for Safaricom’s ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Weapons and Military Equipment Are Showing Up on the Battlefields of the Eastern DR Congo

Chinese-made weapons and military equipment are in wide use by the Congolese rebel group M23 and other factions battling in the eastern DRC, according to an investigation by the DRC news publication Politico.cd. “M23 ...
by Eric Olander

A Glimpse into China’s Senior Diplomat’s Visit to Africa and Asia

China's top foreign policy official, Yang Jiechi, with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi on July 1, 2022. Image via Xinhua.
Yang Jiechi, one of China’s most senior foreign policy officials and a politburo member, visited Pakistan, The UAE, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe earlier this month and gave a rare interview to Xinhua about his ...
by Cobus van Staden

Chinese Lithium Giant Expands into Argentina

File image of raw lithium. Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash
The Chinese battery metals company Ganfeng Lithium Co. will spend $962 million to buy 100% of the Argentinian lithium compounds producer Lithea. The company owns lithium salt lakes with a capacity of 30,000 ...
by Cobus van Staden

Blinken Calls on China, ASEAN to Put Pressure on Mynamar Junta

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaking at a press conference in Bangkok on July 10, 2022. Stefani Reynolds / POOL / AFP
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged China and members of the ten-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to collectively pressure the military government in Myanmar to return to democracy. “It is incumbent ...
by Eric Olander

Zambia Expected to Finalize Debt Restructuring Deal By the End of the Month

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema at the Leaders' Retreat on the sidelines of day six of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali on June 25, 2022. Dan Kitwood/POOL/AFP
Zambia appears to be edging closer to a debt restructuring deal with its official creditors. Insiders tell Reuters it could happen sometime in July. Some sort of arrangement between the Zambian government and the ...
by Eric Olander

Maritime Issues Could Headline the Next High-Level Chinese Tour of Africa

Wu Peng is China's top diplomat for Sub-Saharan Africa.
China’s most senior diplomat for Sub-Saharan Africa announced that Special Representative on African Affairs, Xu Jinghu, has kicked off an 8-nation African tour. The Foreign Ministry hasn’t provided any information about her visit besides ...
by Eric Olander

Reports: Saudi Arabia Eyeing Chinese Stealth Fighter Jets

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: China offers its most powerful stealth aircraft to Saudi Arabia
It appears that sources within the Saudi Arabian Royal Air Force are leaking information about their apparent interest in acquiring and possibly even manufacturing FC-31s, China’s most advanced stealth fighter jet. Saudi news ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Chinese Foreign Direct Investment in BRI Countries Jumped 10.2% in the First Five Months of the Year

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivering his keynote address at FOCAC 8. Image via Xinhua.
Chinese foreign direct investment in BRI countries jumped 10.2% to $8.2 billion in the first five months of the year, according to new data from the Chinese government. Singapore, Indonesia and Pakistan were 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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Forget Cobalt, Lithium is the Key Strategic Resource

Tesla’s across-the-fleet price increase this month was due in part to supply constraints of key metals used to manufacture electric vehicle batteries, specifically lithium.   While the price of cobalt and nickel have steadily fallen ...
by Eric Olander

U.S. Tries to Stem the Flow of Iranian Oil to China

Antony Blinken is the United States Secretary of State.
The United States government on Wednesday imposed new sanctions against Iranian oil companies and the network of firms that help facilitate the flow of Iranian crude to markets in East Asia, specifically China. Every ...
by Eric Olander

Algeria to Purchase Chinese Armed Drones

File image of the WJ-700 armed reconnaissance drone manufactured by The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Image via CASC.
The Algerian military is reportedly in talks with China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) to purchase four of the company’s WJ-700 Falcon armed reconnaissance drones, according to Algerian press reports. Algiers hopes the ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Tech and Mining Companies Team Up to Build First 5G Connected Mine in Southern Africa

Zijin Garatau platinum mine in Limpopo, South Africa will be the southern Africa region’s first 5G-enabled smart metal mine.
The South African subsidiary of Chinese mining giant Zijin will build southern Africa’s first-ever 5G connected mine using Huawei technology. South Africa Zijin Platinum contracted with SA telco major MTN to build the ...
by Eric Olander

Split Views in Africa Over China’s Push to Build Parliaments and Other Government Buildings Across the Continent

Nancy Kacungira is a Ugandan presenter and reporter at BBC News.
The imminent handover of the newly-built Zimbabwe parliament building that was almost entirely paid for by the Chinese government has prompted a lively debate online about China’s so-called “Palace Diplomacy” in Africa. Opinions about the ...
by Eric Olander

Why You Should Pay More Attention to China’s Global Development Initiative 

A still of President Xi Jinping promoting the GDI in an address to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June. Image via CGTN.
When President Xi Jinping announced China’s Global Development Initiative (GDI) in September, the response among Western observers was muted.   Not so in China, where scholars see the GDI and its sibling, the Global Security Initiative, ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Leaders Fan Out Across Asia, Africa For a Busy Week of Diplomacy

Headlines from major Kenyan newspapers. They all published the same column by Chinese Ambassador Zhou Pingjian that refuted allegations of predatory lending.
The past 4-5 days have been especially busy for Chinese diplomacy in Africa and Asia. This outreach included the first time that President Xi Jinping left Beijing since the pandemic began almost 900 days ago. Although ...
by Eric Olander

Why China Building a Small Power Plant in a Small Congolese Town is Such a Big Deal

Chinese contractors signed a contract to build a power plant in the small town of Kenge, 269 kilometers outside of Kinshasa.
A consortium of Chinese entrepreneurs based in Angola recently signed an agreement to build an electric power generation facility in the small Congolese city of Kenge, 269 kilometers west of the capital Kinshasa, according ...
by Eric Olander

Almost Every Major Kenyan Newspaper Published Column by Chinese Ambassador That Refutes Debt Trap Accusation

Headlines from major Kenyan newspapers. They all published the same column by Chinese Ambassador Zhou Pingjian that refuted allegations of predatory lending.
An unusual phenomenon occurred in Kenya over the past few days: the country’s normally competitive newspapers all ran the same column written by China’s envoy to Nairobi, Zhou Pingjian. Normally, newspapers insist on exclusivity ...
by Eric Olander

The Chinese Internet Turned on Lu Ke, the Culprit in the BBC’s “Racism for Sale” Documentary

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: Hot Comments: Internet Celebrities Who Do Shameful Things Have Only Themselves to Blame
For years, the Chinese internet reflexively defended all compatriots against any charges of anti-Black discrimination or racism. “China and Chinese people DO NOT DISCRIMINATE. Period.” was the line that came back against any ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Iran Is the Second Country This Week, After Argentina, to Submit an Application to Join the BRICS Club

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in Wuxi on Jan 14, 2022. Image via Xinhua.
Iran is the second country this week, after Argentina, to submit an application to join the BRICS club. The BRICS group is increasingly seen by both Beijing and Moscow as a potential alternative to ...
by Eric Olander

Maybe The West’s Pressure on China to Build “High Quality” Infrastructure is Working

A Xinhua headline from Wednesday hints that years of criticism of low-quality Chinese-built infrastructure in developing countries may be having its desired effect. Chinese messaging on these issues used to focus on the speed ...
by Eric Olander

Fears of Chinese Predatory Lending in Central Asia

Niva Yao is a specialist in China-Central Asian affairs and a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
The Chairman of Kyrgyzstan’s Council of Ministers, Akylbek Zhaparov, repeated debunked accusations on Wednesday that China seized strategic assets in both Pakistan and Sri Lanka when they couldn’t afford to repay their debts. He warned ...
by Eric Olander

UAE’s Ambassador to China Meets With Sinopharm President to Discuss Future Cooperation

UAE Ambassador to China, Ali Obaid Al Dhaheri meeting with Mr. Liu Jingchen, President of Sinopharm, at the embassy in Beijing to discuss future cooperation. Image via @UAEEmbChina.
The UAE’s ambassador to China, Ali Obaid Al Dhaheri, met with the President of Sinopharm, Liu Jinchen, at the embassy in Beijing this week to discuss how the two sides can enhance their current ...
by Eric Olander

Tucker Carlson: China is Colonizing Countries in the Western Hemisphere

Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the most popular cable talk show personality in the United States, is hosting his show from Brazil this week and warning that the “Chinese military is establishing a ...
by Eric Olander

World Bank: Don’t Blame the Pandemic For the Global South Debt Crisis

Two leading World Bank economists issued a stinging rebuke against policymakers in developing countries who have blamed the worsening debt crisis on the pandemic.  “The seeds were sown long before COVID-19,” wrote Marcello Estevão and ...
by Eric Olander
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