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

U.S. Generals Continue to Insist China Plans to Build New Military Bases in Africa Even Though There’s No Evidence

Maj. Gen. William Zana, the most senior U.S. officer in Africa, told NBC News that he believes China plans to build more military outposts in Africa. Image via NBC News.
The United States military is turning up the volume on its longstanding allegation that China is actively considering building new military bases around the world, including in four African countries. 
by Eric Olander

How the U.S. Allegation Over More Chinese Bases in Africa Fits into a Broader U.S. Narrative

The conservative Heritage Foundation’s Senior Policy Analyst for Africa and the Middle East, Joshua Meservey, commented on Friday about the U.S. Defense Department report that included the allegation that China ...
by Eric Olander

World Bank Chief David Malpass on Debt Transparency and the Challenges of Working With the Chinese

World Bank President David Malpass speaking Margaret Brennan on CBS News' Face the Nation program. Image via CBS.
World Bank President David Malpass pushed back against the suggestion that China engages in predatory lending to developing countries and instead described the lack of transparency in working with China as a “challenge.” ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Washington’s Answer to the BRI Takes Shape as New Details About B3W Emerge

U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh with Ghana Vice President Bawumia. Image via U.S. Embassy in Ghana.
The U.S. government is now considering as many as 50 infrastructure projects for its new B3W initiative, which is aimed at countering China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Earlier this week, administration officials hinted at ...
by Eric Olander

FOCAC PERSPECTIVES: Hoping the Journalists Do a Better Job Covering FOCAC And Avoid All Those “Tired Tropes”

Every day leading up to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation conference on November 29th and 30th, CAP will feature perspectives from journalists, academics, activists, and business leaders about what they hope will emerge ...
by Cliff Mboya

Congolese Workers Face “Dire Conditions” in Foreign-Owned Cobalt Mines, Says NGO

A man carries a bag of material dug from mine waste as workers search for leftover cobalt somewhere between Lubumbashi and Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. EDERICO SCOPPA / AFP
DR Congo’s cobalt mining sector is notorious for worker abuse and exploitation. Until now, most of the focus has been on the informal, or artisanal mines where there is no government or corporate ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Mining Companies in the DRC Are Once Again Revving Up Their PR Efforts in a Bid to Improve Their Image

The photo and text from a Sicomines Tweet was copied verbatim and re-posted on the Congolese news site Actualite.cd -- most likely as part of a paid media campaign.
If there was any doubt that Chinese mining companies were paying for positive media coverage in the Congolese press, a pair of tweets on Wednesday (photo) should settle the issue. The Sino-Congolese mining ...
by Eric Olander

South African Retail Giant Woolworths Turns to China’s SAIC For New Electrified Delivery Vans

Image courtesy of Woolworths
When South African online shoppers get their groceries delivered from the retail giant Woolworths, they’ll come in one of the company’s new Chinese-made electric-powered delivery vans. Woolworths announced that it will use the ...
by Eric Olander

Mounting Expectations that China Will “Bring a Big Checkbook to FOCAC 2021”

As the 8th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) conference in Dakar nears, expectations in some quarters are rising that China will once again play the role of financier for African development and COVID-19 ...
by Eric Olander

FOCAC PERSPECTIVES: This Year’s FOCAC Will Serve as a “Moment of Truth” For China-Africa Relations

Every day leading up to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation conference on November 29th and 30th, CAP will feature perspectives from journalists, academics, activists, and business leaders about what they hope will emerge ...
by Cliff Mboya

China’s UN Envoy Criticizes U.S. Sanctions Against Ethiopia, Pushes Instead For Multilateral Response

Chinese ambassador to the United Nations Zhang Jun speaking to the Security Council about China's position on Ethiopia.
The brief respite from U.S.-Chinese sniping at the United Nations over the deteriorating situation in Ethiopia came to an abrupt end this week. The two countries had momentarily put aside their differences on ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Media Coverage of the Crisis in Ethiopia Also Weaves in Longstanding Grievances Against the U.S.

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: As the "Tigray People's Liberation Front" approached [Addis Ababa] step by step, the Ethiopian people took to the streets to warn the United States: don't treat us like Afghanistan
Over the past week, there’s been a noticeable increase in the frequency of media coverage on both online news sites and state-run channels in China about the burgeoning conflict in Ethiopia. It does ...
by Eric Olander

China Dismisses the White House’s B3W Plan

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin. Image via the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin was asked to comment on Tuesday about the news that the U.S. plans to launch its Build Back Better World global infrastructure program ...
by Eric Olander

Hannah Ryder on the Importance of China Continuing the Tradition of Announcing a Big Financial Commitment at FOCAC

File image of China's President Xi Jinping (C) speaks as South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa (L) and Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (R) look on, during the Forum On China-Africa Cooperation - Round Table Conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on September 4, 2018. Lintao Zhang / POOL / AFP
The highlight of every FOCAC, at least measured by the quantity of news headlines, is the size of the big financial package that’s unveiled at the end of the triennial conference. In 2012 ...
by Eric Olander

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

2026: Africa-China Relations in a World Shaped by North-South Geopolitics

When talking about Africa–China relations, one is always moving along a sliding scale. There are myriad interactions with Chinese entities that concern only individual African countries, segueing into trends affecting the whole continent and sliding further into global dynamics shaping the developing world, of which Africa is the heart.

The Africa-China relationship is its own thing, but Africa’s fate can’t easily be separated from factors affecting the wider Global South, ...

Tshisekedi Checks in on the Progress of Kinshasa’s Vast New China-built Cultural Center

Chinese ambassador to the DRC Zhu Jing conducting a site inspection with President Félix Tshiskedi of the new Chinese-built cultural center in Kinshasa. Image via the Chinese embassy in the DRC.
DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi joined Ambassador Zhu Jing on Monday for a tour of the construction site of the new cultural center that China is financing and constructing in ...
by Eric Olander

FOCAC PERSPECTIVES: African Civil Society Stakeholders Hope FOCAC Will Lead to a More Inclusive Dialogue With China That Promotes Industrialization and Sustainable Development

Every day leading up to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation conference on November 29th and 30th, CAP will feature perspectives from journalists, academics, activists and business leaders about what they hope will emerge ...
by Eric Olander

Daily Life For Chinese Residents in Addis Ababa is Becoming Increasingly Difficult

Many stores have closed in the Ethiopian capital due to a lack of supplies and a rapid increase in costs due to the depreciating value of the local currency. EDUARDO SOTERAS / AFP
With the security situation in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa becoming increasingly tenuous, supply chains for daily necessities are becoming strained making it difficult for everyone, including the city’s Chinese diaspora community, to ...
by Eric Olander

U.S. Hints at January Launch For Build Back Better World Initiative That Aims to Challenge China’s Belt and Road

U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh with Ghana Vice President Bawumia. Image via U.S. Embassy in Ghana.
An unnamed senior U.S. official told reporters on Monday that the Biden administration is planning to announce the launch of its Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative as soon ...
by Eric Olander

It’ll Be Months Before We Know the First B3W Projects, But the Battle Between the U.S. and China Over African Mobile Telecoms is Already Underway

U.S. officials have not let on which projects they will support as part of the new B3W plan, their latest effort to blunt China’s infrastructure dominance in the Global South and the Belt ...
by Eric Olander

If B3W is Supposed to Rally “Like-Minded Democracies” to Confront China in the Global South, Then the U.S. Has a Big Problem

U.S. President Joe Biden tours the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Arvada, Colorado, on September 14, 2021, before delivering a speech on the infrastructure deal and the Build Back Better agenda. Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP
Building a coalition of “like-minded democracies” to challenge China’s Belt and Road Initiative in developing countries was a founding principle of U.S. President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better World ...
by Eric Olander

For the Second Day in a Row, Liberia’s Daily Observer Editorial Board Slams Government Over Secrecy in Chinese Mining Deal

The Editorial Board at one of Liberia’s largest newspapers, the Daily Observer, is keeping up the pressure on the government by demanding for the second day in a row ...
by Eric Olander

Journalists, Scholars, and Analysts Share What They’d Like to See Emerge From the Upcoming FOCAC Conference

In the run-up to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Conference that will take place in Dakar, Senegal at the end of the month, CAP is soliciting a broad swathe of experts to share ...
by Eric Olander

Congolese Superstar Cédric Bakambu May Say Adios to the Chinese Super League Now That Barcelona is Calling

File image of Beijing Guoan's Cedric Bakambu during a Chinese Super League (CSL) football match against Shandong Luneng in Beijing. STR / AFP
Congolese forward and Chinese Super League Cédrioc Bakambu may be on his way back to Spain in 2022 when his contract expires with Beijing Guoan in December. There are widespread ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese, Senegalese Governments Formally Announce FOCAC Dates and Themes

Senegalese Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Aïssata Tall Sall and Chinese ambassador Xiao Han convene a meeting of African ambassadors in Dakar to announce plans for the upcoming FOCAC summit.
After months of speculation, the Chinese and Senegalese governments last week announced the dates for the upcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation ministerial conference that will take place in Dakar on Monday, November 29th, and Tuesday, ...
by Eric Olander

Representatives From 50 African Countries Take Part in Inaugural China-Africa Beidou Forum

Officials from the China Satellite Navigation Committee in Beijing who took part in the first-ever China-Africa Beidou System Cooperation Forum on Friday. Image via China Daily.
More than 600 representatives from almost every African country, including eight ministers and eight ambassadors, attended the first-ever China-Africa Beidou System Cooperation Forum that took place on Friday in ...
by Eric Olander

Scholars, Diplomats in South Africa Discuss the Future of Africa-China Ties

Chinese ambassador to South Africa, Chen Xiaodong, delivers the opening remarks at an online discussion among Chinese and African scholars and diplomats about the future of ties between the two regions.
The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) together with the Chinese embassy in Pretoria hosted an online forum last week that featured discussions among Chinese diplomats, including Ambassador Chen Xiaodong, and scholars ...
by Eric Olander

Lina Benabdallah Reflects on How This Year’s FOCAC Will Differ From Past Gatherings

Acclaimed China-Africa scholar, Lina Benabdalla, an assistant professor at Wake Forest University in the U.S., reflected on Twitter about how the upcoming FOCAC ministerial conference will be different than previous leadership summits. The ...
by Eric Olander

In a Rare Move, China Joins U.S. in UN Statement Calling For Ceasefire in Ethiopia

File image of the United Nations Security Council. John Minchillo / POOL / AFP
The 15-member United Nations Security Council achieved rare consensus on Friday when it issued a statement that called on the warring parties in Ethiopia to halt fighting and engage ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Embassy in Nairobi Dismisses “Fact-Neglecting” U.S. Allegation The PLA Considered Kenya to Set Up a New Base

The United States Defense Department renewed a longstanding allegation, that as of today remains unsubstantiated, that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “likely considered a number of countries” to set ...
by Eric Olander

Liberian Senate Approves Controversial Resources-For-Infrastructure Deal With Chinese Mining Company

File image of the Liberian Senate. Image via The Liberian Senate Facebook.
The Liberian Senate voted on Friday to approve a controversial $2.5 billion iron ore for infrastructure deal with the Chinese mining giant BAO Chico. The origins of the deal ...
by Eric Olander
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