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

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meets China’s Premier

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed met with Chinese counterpart Li Qiang on the eve of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on October 16, 2023. Image via Xinhua.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed held talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Monday. The PM is on an official visit to China and will attend the Belt and Road Forum. ...
by Cobus van Staden

Kenyan President’s Economic Diplomacy Agenda Will be Tested in Beijing This Week

Kenyan President William Ruto met with Li Xi, a senior member of the Communist Party of China (top) and visited Chinese energy and telecommunications companies on October 16, 2023. Images via @WilliamsRuto.
Among the dozens of leaders attending this week’s Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, few are under as much pressure to deliver tangible results from the event as Kenyan President William Ruto. Back ...
by Eric Olander

Indonesia Targets Rail, Renewable Cooperation At Forum

File image of Indonesian President Joko Widodo (L) with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2022. Image: Achmad Ibrahim / AFP
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo (nicknamed ‘Jokowi’) is one of the rare leaders at this year’s Belt and Road Forum who has already met Chinese President Xi Jinping this year. He’ll have a repeat ...
by Cobus van Staden

China’s Special Envoy Will Go to the Middle East This Week to Push For Peace Talks

China's Special Envoy to the Middle East, Zhai Jun, met with diplomatic representatives from the 22-member Arab League in Beijing on October 13, 2023. Khaled DESOUKI / AFP
China’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, Zhai Jun, will reportedly travel to the region this week to meet with key stakeholders in a longshot attempt to push for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. China’s ...
by Eric Olander

China Not be Ready for Primetime Mideast Mediation But Will Still Benefit From War’s Politics, Say Experts

Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on October 12, 2023. MAHMUD HAMS / AFP
China’s evolving position on the war between Israel and Hamas provoked considerable discussion over the weekend from leading scholars and analysts around the world: PARALYSIS: For a while at least, Beijing’s Middle ...
by Eric Olander

World Leaders Descend on Beijing Before Tuesday’s Belt and Road Forum Kickoff

Top officials from around the world are arriving in Beijing this week for the third Belt and Road forum, which comes as China celebrates the 10th anniversary of the signature infrastructure initiative. Some ...
by Han Zhen

Philippines Accuses China of ‘Dangerous Manoeuvres’ in South China Sea

The Philippine Navy’s BRP Benguet warned off and issued consecutive radio challenges to China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy Ship 621 after it shadowed the former at an 80-yard distance. Video via the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The Philippines asked China to cease “dangerous maneuvers and aggressive actions” in the South China Sea, as Beijing controversially brought out a navy ship into the disputed waters and tensions continued ...
by Han Zhen

Chinese Loans Had Clear Development Impact in Africa: Report

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaking in Marrakesh earlier this week. Image: Fadel Senna / AFP
The adjustment of Chinese lending to Africa and other parts of the Global South in line with changing economic conditions at home will open space for other countries, said IMF ...
by Cobus van Staden

China State Media Launches New BRI Outreach Program to Africa

China political attaché to Ghana, Liu Mingzhao, and Ghana News Agency General Manager Albert Kofi Owusu agree to finalized a new cooperation agreement on October 13, 2023. Image via GNA.
Outreach from China’s state media to African counterparts has gained new energy in the run-up to this week’s Belt and Road Forum. China’s state-owned media house China Media Group on Sunday ...
by Cobus van Staden

Poor Countries Seek Bilateral Debt-Relief Efforts After Rebuf From IMF and World Bank

The International Monetary Fund’s director dismissed calls debt cancellation from Ghana, Nigeria and other countries on the continent, saying it would adversely impact domestic creditors. (INVESTING)
by Han Zhen

China Discusses Ceasefire, Aid to Gaza with Egypt

Smoke billows from Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt during an Israeli bombing raid on Tuesday. Image: Said Khatib / AFP
China’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, Zhai Jun, said China is “ready to coordinate” with Egypt to promote a ceasefire in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The comments came ...
by Cobus van Staden

IMF Caught Unawares by China’s Sri Lankan Debt Deal

IMF Senior Mission Chief Peter Breuer during a news conference in September. Image: AFP
The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s brief announcement on Tuesday that China Exim Bank reached a debt deal with Sri Lanka surprised IMF officials – another indication of how fractured the bankrupt country’s debt restructuring ...
by Cobus van Staden

As Debt Resolution Deadlock Looms, Which Scenarios Face Us?

China’s rapid rise as a global lender has also made it a significant disrupter of the business-as-usual of debt restructuring. While Western stakeholders have framed China’s role as a ‘barrier,’ 
by Cobus van Staden

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Plugging into African Agency

After several years of declining funding, the African end of the Belt and Road Initiative seems to be roaring back. The newest Griffith University/Green Development Finance Center data on the Belt and Road Initiative shows that engagement with Africa jumped by 395%, while a few big projects boosted engagement in Nigeria alone more than twelvefold.
These shifts indicate a window of opportunity for African electrification. 60% of Africans still ...

Further Crackdowns on Cross-Border Gambling and Scams in Myanmar

Casinos like these fuel wild west economies in towns along China's border with Southeast Asian countries, where cross-border scam operations also frequently run on the labor of trafficked people. Image: Ye Aung Thu / AFP
More than 1,200 Chinese nationals allegedly involved in illegal cross-border gambling operations were detained by Myanmar militias and handed over to Chinese authorities on Saturday, the Associated Press reported. In June, ...
by Han Zhen

China May Deploy Navy in Spats With Philippines in South China Sea, Chinese Analysts Say

Chinese vessel (R) shadowing a civilian boat chartered by the Philippine navy to deliver supplies to Philippine navy ship BRP Sierra Madre in the disputed South China Sea. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)
Weeks of steadily escalating confrontations between the coast guards of China and the Philippines in the South China Sea culminated on Tuesday with Chinese analysts saying Beijing may deploy navy ships in future ...
by Han Zhen

China Determined to Stay Out of Israel-Hamas War, Analysts Reflect on How Beijing’s Stance Will Impact Mideast Ties

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin at the regular press briefing in Beijing on October 10, 2023. Image via the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Chinese government is not budging from its initial response to the war between Hamas and Israel, refusing to condemn the initial assault over the weekend and appearing determined to remain on the ...
by Eric Olander

China-Linked Group Involved in Hamas-Israel Misinformation Campaign, Expert Says

Tuvia Gering is a China researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.
A China-linked cyber organization has been attempting to criticize the Biden administration’s efforts relating to the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict, according to John Hultquist, chief analyst at Google Cloud’s Mandiant Intelligence division. At the same ...
by Han Zhen

BRI DEEP DIVE: New Chinese Government Report Gives the Broadest Inside View of the BRI Yet

Indonesian commuters taking pictures at a recently-completed Whoosh Jakarta to Beijing line, a key Belt and Road Initiative project. Image: Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP
Marking the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s State Council Information Office released a huge white paper taking stock. It provides the most comprehensive view yet of how the BRI is ...
by Cobus van Staden

BRI DEEP DIVE: Outside View Reveals Debt and Pollution, But Also Real Development Benefits

A local worker at a Chinese project in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Image: Adek Berry / AFP
If the Chinese Government’s white paper gives the government account of the BRI, a second huge report provides the view from outside. Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center published a ...
by Cobus van Staden

China’s Two-Pronged Response to War in the Middle East: Officially Stay Neutral, Unofficially Blame U.S./Israel

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning at the regular press briefing in Beijing on October 9, 2023. Image via the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
China is under mounting international pressure to articulate a more forceful response to the war between Israel and Hamas that started over the weekend. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning faced a barrage of ...
by Eric Olander

U.S. Senate Trip to Beijing Swivels to Iran and Mideast After Hamas Attack on Israel

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is greeted by Chinese President Xi Jinping before their bilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 9, 2023. Andy Wong / POOL / AFP
A trip by U.S. senators to China originally aimed at smoothing bilateral tensions and trade disagreements pivoted heavily toward Iran on Monday, after the Tehran-backed group Hamas killed hundreds of Israelis in a ...
by Han Zhen

China’s One-Sided Coverage of the Gaza War: “In Beijing, Only the Palestinians Suffer”

A media worker for China Central Television reporting on the Israeli bombing in Gaza. Image courtesy of CCTV via Phil Cunningham.
Chinese television coverage of the early stages of the war between Hamas and Israel appears to focus disproportionately on the suffering of Palestinians and very little on the victims of the fighting in ...
by Eric Olander

Contrasting Views on Whether Iran Will be Able to Continue Selling Oil to China

Source: General Administration of Customs, Bloomberg
China’s independent oil refiners, known as teapots, are betting that the U.S. won’t crack down on Iranian oil shipments for fear of pushing up prices. While higher gas prices in the U.S. are ...
by Eric Olander

China “Should Have Taken a Stronger Stand” Against Hamas Attack, Says Israeli Diplomat in Beijing

An Israeli soldiers take cover behind a car as he looks toward bodies on a main road near the Gevim Kibbutz, close to the border with Gaza on October 7, 2023. Oren ZIV / AFP
China was among the last of the major powers to respond to the large-scale surprise attack by Hamas on Saturday that triggered an all-out war with Israel. And ...
by Eric Olander

Dissecting the Chinese Statement on the Israel-Palestinian Conflict for Clues to Beijing’s Next Steps

Wen-Ti Sung is a political science lecturer at Australia National University and a fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C.
China analysts are parsing through the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s statement on the Israel-Palestinian conflict to look for clues on which way Beijing will go in how it responds to the war. Wen-Ti Sung, ...
by Eric Olander

Terrified Chinese Students in Israel Provided Near-Realtime Coverage of Saturday’s Hamas Attack

Dozens of Chinese students in Israel had a clear view of Saturday’s surprise attack by Palestinian militants. As Hamas fighters made their way into Israeli cities, a number of students pointed their telephones ...
by Eric Olander

Kenya’s Longshot Request for Chinese Financial Assistance and Debt Relief

Kenyan President William Ruto wants China to provide financing to finish stalled construction projects. Simon Mania/AFP
Kenyan President William Ruto is preparing to make a longshot billion-dollar request for badly-needed financial assistance in a bid to bolster his country’s ailing economy. Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said Ruto will submit ...
by Eric Olander

DRC President Inaugurates New Chinese-Built Hydropower Plant

DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi commissioned the new 240 megawatt Busanga power station that is part of the Sicomines resources-for-infrastructure deal. Video via @PatrickMuyaya
Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi opened the floodgates of the new Busanga hydropower station on the Lualaba River in southern Lualaba province’s copper/cobalt belt. There’s a certain irony in Tshisekdi inaugurating this particular project given ...
by Eric Olander

Lots of People Are Confused About Indonesia’s Decision to Ban E-Commerce on TikTok. Here’s Why They Did It.

Online entrepreneurs like Monomolly, and her employees used to sell beauty products on TikTok but were forced to move to other platforms when the government banned use of the Chinese social media app to sell goods. BAY ISMOYO / AFP
The Indonesian government last week outlawed the use of TikTok to sell goods online goods, delivering a massive blow to the Chinese social media giant in its fastest-growing market in Southeast Asia. Since ...
by Antonia Timmerman
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