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

Europe-Asia Shipping Costs Surge Due to Houthi Attacks in the Red Sea

The cost of shipping a standard 40-foot container from Asia to northern Europe now costs around $4,000, a whopping 173% increase from just a few weeks ago. Average freight costs from the rest ...
by Eric Olander

3 Reasons Why China Didn’t Join the U.S.-Led Coalition to Counter Houthi Attacks in the Red Sea

Chinese military commentator Yun Hua explained in a recent video that the attacks on ships in the Red Sea is accelerorating the shift to overland rail links built by China as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. Image via the Middle East Media Research Institute.
There was some dismay/confusion in the U.S. and Europe when China opted not to join the multinational coalition to combat Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. A lot of Western analysts supposed, ...
by Eric Olander

The BRICS Got Bigger in 2024 But Not as Big As Expected

Five new countries joined the BRICS bloc at the beginning of the year, marking a dramatic expansion for the fourteen-year old group. With the admission on January 1 of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, ...
by Eric Olander

Beijing Leans Into Ties With Myanmar’s Military Government as Ethnic Rebels Capture More Territory Near Chinese Border

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong wrapped up a three-day meeting to Myanmar on Saturday that included talks with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing. Image via Xinhua.
Senior Chinese officials wrapped up a series of high-level talks with the leadership in Myanmar over the weekend amid a worsening insurgency that is now spilling over the border into China. Chinese ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Insurgent Group in Myanmar Reportedly Seized Another Key Border Crossing With China

A missile being fired near Myanmar's border with China. Image: AFP / STR
An insurgent group in Myanmar has reportedly seized another key border crossing with China, further eroding the ruling junta’s control of the northeastern Shan State. Beijing remains concerned about factional fighting in Myanmar spilling ...
by Eric Olander

Australia Refuses to Send Ships to Red Sea

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's decision not to send a warship to join the U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea was denounced as misguided by critics. DAVID GRAY / AFP
The Australian government has reportedly indicated that it won’t send ships to join the U.S.-led Operation Prosperity Guardian in the Red Sea. The operation is aimed at containing attacks from Yemeni Houthi militias on commercial ...
by Cobus van Staden

China Hawks in the U.S. Back Albanese’s Decision to Concentrate Force Deployments in Asia

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
Australia’s decision not to contribute a warship to the U.S.-led patrolling of Red Sea shipping lanes is playing into U.S. political divisions in the run-up to next year’s election. Reaction from the Biden ...
by Cobus van Staden

Chinese Experts on Red Sea: Not Our Problem

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: Liu Qiang: If the United States is happy to see the Houthis disrupt China-EU trade, what can China do about it?
Chinese exporters’ profit margins are suffering as container shipping companies reroute their ships away from the Red Sea. The move to escape strikes by Houthi militias against ships headed for Israel will add to shipping ...
by Cobus van Staden

UN Security Council Vote on Gaza Postponed

UN Security Council meeting on "The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question" at the UN headquarters in New York City on December 19, 2023. Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP
The UN Security Council pushed back voting on a resolution calling for a pause in violence in Gaza. The delay comes amid fears of another U.S. veto, even though “cease-fire” doesn’t appear in the ...
by Cobus van Staden

Don’t Overestimate China’s Influence in the Middle East: Researcher

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends a meeting with foreign ministers from Arab and Muslim-majority nations at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing on November 20, 2023. Pedro PARDO / AFP
China’s complex position as a rising diplomatic power and a major oil buyer in the Middle East raises questions about its position as realities in the region shift rapidly. This discussion has both overstated ...
by Cobus van Staden

Marcos Says ‘We Have to Do Something We Have Not Done Before’ to Deal With China

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. Frederic J. BROWN / AFP
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has sparked a flurry of speculation over seemingly unprecedented comments he made regarding confrontations with Beijing in the South China Sea. In a recent interview with Japanese media, ...
by Han Zhen

Prominent Scholar Warns That Philippine South China Sea ‘Provocations’ Are Undermining China-ASEAN Ties

A man looks at the China Coast Guard vessel during a mission to deliver provisions at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea on November 10, 2023. JAM STA ROSA / AFP
A respected Chinese scholar has given insight into official thinking on the impact Beijing’s maritime conflicts with the Philippines are having on China-ASEAN relations. Philippine “provocations” in the South China Sea are undermining ...
by Han Zhen

Kenya Launches Construction on New Chinese Rail Project

Kenyan President William Ruto (R) celebrates the construction of a new commuter railway in Nairobi on December 15, 2023 that will be built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation. Photo via XInhua.
Kenyan President William Ruto officially inaugurated construction on a new meter-gauge light rail line on Friday. The 12.5-kilometer project will connect with existing lines to link the Nairobi neighborhoods of Riruta and Ngong. It ...
by Cobus van Staden

Philippines’ Threat of New South China Sea Structure Inflames Beijing

File image of the the grounded Philippine navy ship BRP Sierra Madre where marines are stationed to assert Manila's territorial claims at Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea. Ted ALJIBE / AFP
China is lashing out at signals that the Philippines may be set to build a structure in what Beijing considers the most sensitive part of the South China Sea between the two countries. The developments ...
by Han Zhen

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

How to Lure Chinese Financing Back to the Global South: Report

Global South countries face increasing financing pressure, endangering their ability to keep developing while also implementing measures to deal with a growing climate crisis. The disruption of global trade is coupled with a larger megatrend: flows of international capital to the developing world have turned negative. This means that countries are now routinely paying more to service loans than they receive in disbursements.

The vast majority of Global South borrowers ...

Growing Chorus of Philippine Voices Calls for Calm in South China Sea

A Chinese Coast Guard ship sails near a Philippine vessel (R) that was part of a convoy of civilian boats in the disputed South China Sea on December 10, 2023. TED ALJIBE / AFP
While China-Philippines tensions in the South China Sea are at their worst in recent memory, and both sides have dug in their heels, there have been sprouts of a Filipino contingency calling for ...
by Han Zhen

Ship Attacks Shift Attention to China’s Overland Routes

Attacks by Houthi rebel groups on commercial ships in the Red Sea are forcing the world’s largest shipping companies to reroute their shipments. About 10% of the world’s trade passes through the Red ...
by Cobus van Staden

China Could Fund Kenyan Rail Through Public-Private Partnership: Kenyan President

Kenyan President William Ruto at his annual year-end roundtable interview with journalists at the State House in Nairobi on December 17, 2023. Image via KBC.
Kenyan President William Ruto renewed his calls for China to fund the third stretch of the country’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). Speaking at a roundtable event in Nairobi during the weekend, Ruto said the ...
by Cobus van Staden

China’s Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Stops in Eritrea During Regional Tour

China's Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Xue Bing, met with Eritrea President Isaias Afwerki in Asmara on December 15, 2023. Image via @shabait.
Xue Bing, China’s special envoy for the Horn of Africa, traveled to Eritrea on Friday for talks with President Isaias Afwerki. The Chinese envoy arrived in Asmara just after visiting Eritrea’s rival Ethiopia, ...
by Eric Olander

Japan, China Both Court ASEAN Countries as Part of Burgeoning Battle for Influence in Southeast Asia

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (top) delivered the keynote address at the ASEAN-Japana summit in Tokyo while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (below) held talks with ASEAN diplomats in Beijing. Images via AFP and Xinhua.
Both Japan and China held a series of events with senior leaders from the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in recent days as part of a ramped-up ...
by Eric Olander

Marcos Calls for Closer Security Ties with Japan and the U.S. to Counter China in South China Sea

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. acknowledged that tensions with China have worsened in recent months and that the situation has become more "complicated." Kazuhiro NOGI / POOL / AFP
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. acknowledged this weekend that ties with China are deteriorating over the constant confrontations between the two countries in the South China Sea. Marcos said “the South China Sea situation ...
by Eric Olander

The Chinese Media Narrative About the South China Sea: It’s Everyone Else’s Fault

Chinese Coast Guard vessel (L) blocks the ML Kalayaan chartered supply boat (R) during a mission to deliver provisions at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea on November 10, 2023. JAM STA ROSA / AFP
The emerging Chinese media narrative about the escalating confrontation with the Philippines over territorial disputes in the South China Sea largely blames the United States and other outside “trouble-makers” for manipulating the ...
by Eric Olander

Kenya’s Rapidly Devaluing Currency Pushes Up Debt Servicing Costs, Particularly to China

Source: Kenya Treasury via Business Daily
The cost to repay Kenya’s dollar-denominated loans is getting more expensive, literally by the day. The National Treasury reported that the plunging value of the shilling since the beginning of the year has ...
by Eric Olander

Report: African Governments Must Do More to Work Together and Enact Radical Transparency to Better Manage Chinese Debt

Chinese loans to top ten African country borrowers 2000–2022
China is not the largest creditor to African governments but it is certainly one of the most important, particularly because Chinese loans are far more opaque than those from other lenders. Now, in ...
by Eric Olander

U.S. Becoming Increasingly Worried About Chinese EV Car Brands Setting Up Factories Across the Border in Mexico

At least three Chinese auto majors are reportedly exploring options to build new factories in Mexico where their would receive duty free access to the U.S. market. MAURICIO PALOS / AFP
The United States government is becoming nervous about the prospect of Chinese automakers building new factories in Mexico that would afford those new vehicles duty-free access into the U.S. market. MG, BYD and ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Ethiopia Widely Expected to Default on Portion of Its Debt

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Demeke Mekonnen, held discussions with China's Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Ambassador Xue Bing, on 11 December 2023. Image via @mfaethiopia
Ethiopia is widely expected to default on a portion of its debt as the government warned it will not be able to make a $33 million bond payment due on Monday. Ethiopia is in ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Mining Companies Are Pushing Down the Price of Cobalt, U.S. Committee Wants to Do Something About It

There’s a growing awareness in Washington, D.C., that the rock-bottom prices of certain critical resources used to manufacture electric vehicle batteries provide China a competitive advantage while jeopardizing U.S. national security. A massive ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Nickel Miners in Indonesia Are Becoming Very Anxious About Falling Prices

Aerial view of the massive Chinese-owned Virtue Dragon Nickel Industry mine in Morosi, Indonesia. ADEK BERRY / AFP
The year-long slump in nickel prices is endangering the economic viability of some of the many Chinese mining companies in Indonesia that dominate the sector. Chinese-owned mines account for 60-70% of all investment ...
by Eric Olander

South Korea Moves to Reduce Reliance on China for EV Battery Metals

Industry Minister Bang Moon-kyu, second from left, speaks during a meeting on Korea's supply chain stabilization at Posco Future M's graphite production facility in Sejong on Wednesday. Image via JoongAng Daily.
The South Korean government introduced new measures this week to reduce its dependence on China for 185 different critical resources, many of which are used to manufacture EV batteries. The Ministry of Industry, Trade ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Arms Arrive in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa (wearing scarf) examines a Chinese-made gun. Image: Bulawayo24
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa officially received a consignment of weapons from China on Wednesday. The arms include armored fighting vehicles, personnel carriers, machine guns, and pistols. The weapons were handed over by China’s ambassador, Zhou ...
by Cobus van Staden

Thailand’s China Tourist Woes Set to Worsen After Woman Charged Following TikTok Video

A man holds out a menu of a bar as tourists walk along the popular tourist and nightlife strip Khao San Road in Bangkok on December 10, 2022. Jack TAYLOR / AFP
Thai police are pressing charges against a Chinese social media influencer after she posted a video from a Bangkok nightlife area she claimed was dangerous for women — in a move that could further ...
by Han Zhen
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