Live Feed

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

How Much Ghana Owes China Depends on Who You Ask

At first glance, Ghana doesn’t owe China that much when measured against its outstanding debts to both multilateral development banks like the IMF and the World Bank and, more importantly, bondholders. $1.7 billion in the ...
by Eric Olander

China-IMF Impasse in Sri Lanka “Has to be Broken, One Way or Another,” Says Debt Expert

Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a noted sovereign debt expert, wrote a brief analysis of why the China Exim Bank’s offer of a two-year debt moratorium ...
by Eric Olander

China, World Bank Spar Over Who’s to Blame For Delays in Zambia Debt Relief

David Malpass, World Bank President. Photo: AFP
A major philosophical difference is emerging as a hold-up to Zambia’s much-needed debt relief. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning recently said the key to easing Zambia’s debt burden “lies in the participation of multilateral financial ...
by Cobus van Staden

WEEK IN REVIEW: Kremlin Announced Chinese President Xi Jinping Will Visit Moscow

One of Singapore's most prominent international affairs scholars, Ambassador Bilahari Kausikan, listed Xi Jinping's 'no limits' partnership with Russia as one of three critical Chinese foreign policy mistakes. Alexei Druzhinin / Sputnik / AFP
The Kremlin announced Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Moscow, although the Chinese Foreign Ministry hasn’t confirmed it yet. The visit will partly aim to deny growing distance between the allies on the Ukraine ...
by Eric Olander

Why Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s Hot Take on Chinese Debt in Africa Is So Problematic

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield spoke with Bloomberg's Margaret Collins about her recent trip to Africa. Image via Bloomberg.
In a recent interview, the U.S. ambassador to the UN (and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa) weighed in on China’s role in African debt distress in terms that could be ...
by Cobus van Staden

China Blocked Kenya From Getting Competitive Bids to Build Costly Railway, Supreme Court Told

File image of the Kenyan Supreme Court in Nairobi. YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP
Kenya’s Supreme Court hearings into the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) deal are revealing a deal tainted by collusion between Chinese and Kenyan actors. The account emerging from testimony shows that the deal defied oversight ...
by Cobus van Staden

China Ramps Up Brazilian Corn Imports

For the first time, a Brazilian bulk carrier loaded with 51,000 tons of corn docks at a Chinese port in Jiangsu province.
A ship carrying 51,200 tons of corn became the first Brazilian vessel to dock at Jiangyin Port on the Yangtze River, with ships from the agricultural giant delivering 2.4 million tons of grain ...
by Cobus van Staden

Angolan Police Arrest 8 in Raid on Chinese-run Bitcoin Mining Operation

Angolan authorities in Kwanza Norte Province seized dozens of servers used by a Chinese expatriate group to mine bitcoin. Image via TPA News.
Eight Chinese nationals were arrested and servers and other equipment were seized by Angolan authorities during a raid on a Chinese-led illegal bitcoin mining operation hidden in a brick factory in Kwanza Norte ...
by Cobus van Staden

China-Argentina Call Reveals Closer Ties

TWEET TRANSLATION: "Argentina considers it important to advance with China in financing projects for infrastructure works, which will allow greater territorial integration. That's why I had a phone conversation with the new Foreign Minister Qin Gang."
China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang held a phone conversation with his Argentine counterpart Santiago Cafiero, the newest sign of the two countries’ increasing closeness. Argentina is a champion of closer cooperation between China and Latin ...
by Cobus van Staden

U.S. Panic About Chinese Land Grabs Echoes Africa

A recent Fox News article claiming that China is buying up U.S. farmland
Recent reports in the right-leaning press in the United States claim that China is escalating purchases of American farms. This drumbeat is partly in support of the proposed Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security (PASS) act. ...
by Cobus van Staden

Africa’s Largest Mining Conference Set Against Backdrop of Rising Competition Between China and the West

File image of the The Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa on May 9, 2022. Image by Fearghal Kearney/@KearneyFA.
Attendees at next week’s Mining Indaba in Cape Town, Africa’s largest mining conference that gets underway on Monday, say they’re expecting a new sense of urgency from U.S. and European stakeholders who are ...
by Eric Olander

Given How Unreliable Electricity Service is in South Africa, It’s Not Surprising Huawei’s New Power Wall is Generating Buzz

Huawei launched its new back-up power battery in South Africa that overshadowed the company's unveiling of its new smart phone. Image via Huawei South Africa.
Huawei may be under mounting pressure in the United States, where the government will reportedly expand sanctions against the Chinese tech giant to block all American technology transfers, but in South Africa, it’s ...
by Eric Olander

China’s Debt Relief Offer For Sri Lanka May Not Be Enough to Satisfy IMF, Say Insiders

File image of the exterior of the IMF headquarter building in Washington, D.C. MANDEL NGAN / AFP
Sri Lanka’s desperately-needed financial lifeline from the International Monetary Fund may be in jeopardy due to an insufficient debt restructuring offer from China, Colombo’s largest bilateral creditor. The IMF is requiring that Sri Lanka ...
by Eric Olander

Indian FM Accuses Opposition Leader of Intentionally Spreading False Information About China Border Issue

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar attacked domestic political rivals over the weekend when he accused them of misreprenting India-China tensions. Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP
Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar accused rivals of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of intentionally spreading false information about the government’s handling of the border disputes with China. Jaishankar refuted comments made by Congress Party ...
by Eric Olander

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

China-Led Study Proposes Global Energy Network

A globally connected network of solar and wind energy could provide three times the global energy demand by 2050 at a lower cost than independent national power systems. This is the finding of a study led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in collaboration with researchers from the United States and Denmark.
The study focused on how areas with high solar and wind capacity (such as deserts) can be linked ...

Dubious Rumor Spreading On Pakistani Twitter Xi Jinping Will Soon Visit

Unsubstantiated rumors started to spread on Pakistani Twitter over the weekend that Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the country and, more specifically, inaugurate a new Chinese-built airport in the port city of Gwadar. ...
by Eric Olander

Now It’s the EU’s Turn to Try and Change South Africa’s Mind About Russia and Upcoming Joint Naval Exercises With China

European Union foreign policy lead Josep Borrell was the latest foreign official to try and persuade South Africa's international relations minister Naledi Pandor to change its position on Russia. Image via @DIRCO_ZA.
The European Union’s top foreign policy official Josep Borrell is the latest foreign dignitary to pass through Pretoria in what appears to be a vain effort to persuade South Africa’s international relations minister ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Brazil Warns That Mercosur in Jeopardy if Uruguay Signs a Free Trade Agreement With China

Newly re-elected Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (left) met with his Uruguayan counterpart Luis Lacalle Pou to discuss a controversial trade pact between Montevideo and Beijing. Dante Fernandez / AFP
Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira warned that the South American Common Market known as Mercosur is in jeopardy if Uruguay signs a free trade agreement with China. Viera told the Folha de Sao Paulo ...
by Eric Olander

It’s Been a Big Week for Chinese Infrastructure Development in Africa

The new Lagos light rail in Nigeria (top left), the Lekki Deep Sea Port, also in Lagos (top right), the Kingfisher oil drilling platform in Uganda (lower left) and the Central African Cultural and Arts Center in Kinshasa that's still under construction (bottom right).
Two U.S. cabinet secretaries are currently touring Africa to fulfill President Joe Biden’s promise that the United States is “all in” when it comes to bolstering ties with countries across the continent. A key ...
by Eric Olander

Hard to Believe But Huawei’s Still Got a Smartphone Business in South Africa

The Huawei Mate50 high-end smartphone will go on sale in South Africa on February 1st. Image via Huawei.
Even though Huawei’s mobile phone business is just a fraction of the size it was before the U.S. slapped crippling sanctions on the company, blocking it from using Google and other American technology, ...
by Eric Olander

China’s Ambassador to the DR Congo to Leave

Outgoing Chinese ambassador to the DR Congo, Zhu Jing, during a vist to say good-bye to Defense Minister Gilbert Kabanda. Image via Luben Today.
Chinese ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo stopped by the Defense Ministry in Kinshasa this week to say goodbye to Minister Gilbert Kabanda.  Zhu also left a parting gift of $27 ...
by Eric Olander

Massive New Chinese-financed Cultural Center Takes Shape in Kinshasa

Three years after Chinese contractors broke ground to build the new Central African Cultural and Arts Center in the DR Congo capital of Kinshasa, the 36,000-square-meter development is now taking shape. Outgoing Chinese ambassador to ...
by Eric Olander

Countries in Asia and the Americas Account For Half of China’s Total Auto Exports

China is on the verge of displacing Germany to become the world’s second-largest auto exporting nation (Japan is #1). This is a remarkable accomplishment given the speed that China’s automakers have gained international ...
by Eric Olander

China Tells Janet Yellen U.S. Is in No Position To Criticize Beijing on Debt Issues in Zambia

The Chinese embassy in Zambia's angry response to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's accusation this week that Beijing is a "barrier" in the debt restructuring process.
The Chinese embassy in Lusaka clapped back at U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for her remarks that Beijing was acting as a “barrier” in Zambia’s drawn-out debt restructuring process. In a sharply worded ...
by Eric Olander

The South African Government May Be Edging Closer to China, Russia But Its People Seem to Prefer the West, Says New Poll

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday during the last stop of her ten-day, three-nation Africa tour. Yellen’s arrival in Pretoria comes one day after a ...
by Eric Olander

Why Chinese Lending to Pacific Island Countries Has Steadily Declined in Recent Years

Source: Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map
Chinese lending to Pacific Island Countries (PICs) is now at its lowest level in 15 years, according to new data published by the Australian think tank Lowy Institute. The findings may come as ...
by Eric Olander

Xi Issues Call For Solidarity Among Developing Nations in Video Address to Latin American Leaders Summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaking remotely to leaders at the seventh Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Image via Xinhua.
Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the final day of a leaders summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, where he renewed calls for closer coordination among ...
by Eric Olander

Washington’s Top Commander for U.S. Forces in the Americas Says China’s Growing Presence in the Region ‘Keeps Her Up At Night’

The top commander for U.S. military forces in the Western Hemisphere, General Laura Richardson, speaks out regularly on the growing Chinese presence in the Americas. Image via The Atlantic Council.
Prior to his retirement last year, the top commander for U.S. forces in Africa, General Stephen Townsend, was among the most vocal Pentagon officials on the perceived threat posed by China to U.S. ...
by Eric Olander

China’s Overseas Development Finance Totaled $10.5 Billion in 2020-21, Lowest in Recent Years

China’s Overseas Development Finance by Year, 2008-2021. Source: Boston University Global Development Policy Center, 2023.
By Rebecca Ray After providing a staggering amount of finance for overseas development projects in the wake of the global financial crisis, Chinese overseas development finance has been on a general downward trend for several ...
by BU Global Development Policy Ctr.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Blames China for Delays in Zambia Debt Restructuring

United States Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen (center) is welcomed by Zambian president Hakainde Hichilema (right) during her visit to Zambia at the State House in Lusaka on January 23, 2023. SALIM DAWOOD / AFP
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen accused China of blocking progress for Zambia’s drawn-out debt restructuring process that is now entering its second year. “I know the Chinese have been a barrier to concluding the ...
by Cobus van Staden

Lavrov Visit and Upcoming Joint Naval Exercises With China Spark Anger in South Africa

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor speak at a joint press conference in Pretoria on January 23, 2023. PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP
The South African government is coming under intense criticism for welcoming Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and for next month’s joint naval exercises with both Russia and China. SA Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor dismissed ...
by Cobus van Staden
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