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

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

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

The G20 Summit and the Half-Life of a Joke

When it was announced in 2023 that the African Union would become a full member of the G20, I darkly joked on a podcast that the AU’s entry into the body could very well mark the moment the G20 lost its status as one of the most important global coordination forums. Mark my words, I said, soon The Economist will be like “Uhhh, the G20 is OVER – it’s the ...

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

Southeast Asian Vacation Spots Wait for Chinese Tourists Who Seem More Content to Stay Home

Many of Southeast Asia's top destinations like this beach in Danang, Vietnam are normally bustling with Chinese tourists but have been slow to return after the pandemic. Nhac NGUYEN / AFP
The number of Chinese tourists that went abroad during last week’s normally bustling holiday break was significantly below pre-pandemic levels and even fell short of official forecasts, raising more concerns about the country’s ...
by Han Zhen

WEEK IN REVIEW: DRC President Félix Tshisekedi Officially Inaugurated a New Chinese-Built Dry Port

Zambian President Haikinde Hichilema together with his counterpart from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, lay the foundation stone for a new transport corridor to Tanzania. Image via the DRC Presidency.
Félix Tshisekedi, the president of the DRC, officially inaugurated a new Chinese-built dry port. The Sakania dry port is on the border with Zambia and will double as a border post and a nerve ...
by Eric Olander

India Plans Air Defense Buildup in Confronting China

Indian Air Force head Air Chief Marshall Vivek Ram Chaudhari speaking during the annual Air Force Day news briefing in New Delhi. Image: Sajjad Hussain / AFP
India is planning to spend up to $36 billion in the next seven years to improve its air defenses as part of ongoing hostilities with China and Pakistan, according to the head of its ...
by Cobus van Staden

China’s Space Plans Play Into India-Pakistan Tensions on Earth

Long March-2F rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-16 Manned Space Flight Mission, lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China's northwestern Gansu province, on May 30, 2023, heading to the Tiangong space station. Hector RETAMAL / AFP
If China’s upcoming mission to the moon succeeds, it will become the first country to collect samples from the dark side of the moon. China’s National Space Administration said planning for the Chang’e-6 mission is ...
by Cobus van Staden

Afghanistan Pursues Chinese Investment

File image of the Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. Image Wakil Kohsar / AFP
Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is using his presence at the China-led Trans-Himalaya Forum for International Cooperation in Tibet to meet bilaterally with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. In the newest indication ...
by Cobus van Staden

Backgrounder: The Fine Print of China’s No-Coal Pledge

The Hwange coal-fired power plant in Zimbabwe, where a Chinese-built expansion was unveilved in August. Image: Zingyange Auntony / AFP
In 2021, China’s President Xi Jinping announced that China would stop funding and building coal-fired power plants overseas. After the announcement, Chinese companies canceled about forty coal power projects. However, a similar number are still ...
by Cobus van Staden

Indian Police Arrest Two Journalists, Detain Dozens of Others With Alleged Ties to China

New Delhi police detained Urmilesh (one name only), a well-known journalist with ties to the website NewsClick that has been critical of the government and allegedly received money from a pro-CPC group in China.
Indian security forces fanned out across New Delhi early Tuesday morning to conduct coordinated raids of the homes and offices of journalists affiliated with the left-leaning news outlet NewsClick on suspicion they accepted ...
by Inter-American Dialogue

Xi Congratulates New Maldives President, Promises Closer Ties

Maldives' President-elect of the Maldives' Mohamed Muizzu delivers a speech during a gathering with supporters following the country's presidential election on October 2, 2023. Mohamed Afrah / AFP
Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Mohamed Muizzu on Tuesday on his election as president of the small Indian Ocean archipelago state and pledged to forge closer ties. Meanwhile, Muizzu isn’t wasting any time in ...
by Eric Olander

China Hosts Himalayan Foreign Ministers Forum in Tibet, India Noticeably Absent

Foreign Minister Wang Yi welcomed his counterparts from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Mongolia for a two-day conference in China focused on Himalayan diplomacy. The 3rd Trans-Himalaya Forum for International Cooperation opened on Wednesday ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese National Among the Dead After Mass Shooting in Bangkok Mall

An ambulance is seen outside Siam Paragon shopping centre in Bangkok on October 3, 2023, following a shooting incident in the mall. Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said there had been a shooting on Oct 3 at the shopping mall in downtown Bangkok, with hundreds of people seen fleeing the scene. Jack TAYLOR / AFP
A 14-year-old boy suffering from a psychiatric episode walked into Bangkok’s upscale Siam Paragon Mall and randomly started shooting, killing two and wounding five others. Among the dead included a female Chinese tourist. ...
by Eric Olander

Illegal Chinese Migration to the U.S. Surges via Mexico

2023 data through August. Data includes both encounters by Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection at and between Chart via The San Diego Union-Tribune.
The number of Chinese nationals illegally crossing into the United States from Mexico is surging, according to new data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Last year, the total number of undocumented Chinese ...
by Eric Olander

Ongoing Tensions at Shoal Amid U.S.-Philippines Naval Exercises

A Chinese coastguard vessel patrolling the Scarborough Shoal is glimpsed during a surveillance flight by Philippine forces in late September. Image: Ted Aljibe / AFP
The Philippine press is reporting that the Chinese coastguard is using rubber boats to control access to the contested Scarborough Shoal to Philippine fishing boats. Henrelito Empoc, a spokesperson for a fishing group, said, “The ...
by Cobus van Staden

Getting China Out of Mineral Supply Chains Will Take Closer Cooperation With Africa: Report

The United States is increasingly focused on lessening its dependence on China for critical minerals. While some key rare earth minerals are mined in China, its involvement is much broader in mineral refining ...
by Cobus van Staden

While Confucius Institutes Are Being Kicked Out of the Global North, They Remain Popular in the Global South

Chinese Shaolin monks meeting with young Indonesian martial arts students at a Confucius Institute event in Indonesia in September. Image: Adek Berry / AFP
In September, the Federal University of Bahia opened its new Confucius Institute, the fourteenth in Brazil. These language-learning centers, usually tie-ins with local universities, are being closed in droves across the Global North under ...
by Cobus van Staden

Marcos: Philippines Not Looking For Trouble With China, Vows to Defend Against Incursions

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said he would protect against Chinese incursions into his exclusive economic zone. Earvin Perias / POOL / AFP
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. issued a conciliatory yet firm message to China that his country does not want to provoke a confrontation over disputed territories in the South China Sea, but he will ...
by Eric Olander
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