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

Harris Arrives in Zambia Where China Questions Will Loom Much Larger Than in Ghana

US Vice President Kamala Harris (L) speaks during a press conference with President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo (R) after their bilateral meeting in Accra, Ghana, on March 27, 2023. Nipah Dennis / AFP
U.S. Vice President landed in Zambia on Wednesday for the second leg of a three-nation, week-long Africa tour.  During her first stop in Ghana, the Vice President assiduously tried to avoid any reference ...
by Eric Olander

Will China, UAE’s Masdar Successfully Collaborate to Give Africa Reliable Renewable Energy?

UAE Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and chairman of Masdar, with officials from the clean energy company and the Ivory Coast at the signing ceremony. Image via Masdar.
The shift to renewable energy is gaining momentum in Africa with the Ivory Coast signing an agreement with Masdar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) renewable energy company on the exploration and development of a 50-70 ...
by Njenga Hakeenah

Georgetown University’s Ken Opalo Why the U.S. Can’t Compete With China in Africa

Nipah Dennis / AFP
Until the Biden administration released its new strategy for Africa last August, U.S. foreign policy towards the continent had been largely shaped by a longstanding desire in Washington to challenge China’s growing presence ...
by Eric Olander

After a Setback in Honduras, Taiwan’s Diplomacy Gets a Small Boost in the South Pacific

The Fijian government allowed Taiwan to reinstate the old name of its representative office in the South Pacific island country to include its official moniker “The Republic of China.” While a simple name change ...
by Eric Olander

China Should Not Compromise With Western Creditors in Zambian Debt Relief, Says Prominent Scholar

NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP
Zambia’s debt renegotiation is being delayed by barriers within China’s banking system and by Western pressure. So says Professor Tang Xiaoyang, a prominent expert on Chinese overseas development finance and the director of ...
by Cobus van Staden

New Report: China Is Now the Major Lender of Last Resort for Developing Countries

Countries marked in red have received rescue lending from China, either by making drawdowns on their RMB swap lines and/or by receiving balance of payments support from Chinese state-owned banks and enterprises. Swap drawings by non-distressed countries are excluded. Source: AidData.
China has spent $240 billion in rescue payments to 22 economically distressed Belt and Road economies between 2008 and 2021. A new report published by AidData, the research center at the College of William ...
by Cobus van Staden

Chinese Scholars See U.S. Veep’s Africa Tour in the Context of Great Power Competition

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off a three-nation Africa tour in Ghana. Nipah Dennis / AFP
One stop into her week-long, three-nation African tour, and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has yet to mention the “C” word. But China is very much on the minds of her traveling ...
by Eric Olander

Honduras Says Adiós Taiwan, Formally Establishes Diplomatic Ties With China

Xie Yongjun is a senior diplomat in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Information Department (Public Affairs).
Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina looked visibly pleased this weekend when he shook hands with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang after the pair formally oversaw the establishment of diplomatic ties. The ...
by Eric Olander

China’s Party-run Media Frames Honduras Switch as Part of Larger Struggle Against the U.S., Taiwan Independence

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: Taiwan authorities have lost another country in their "diplomatic relations"! China-Honduras estbalishment of diplomatic relations is a warning against "Taiwan independence"
The Communist Party-run Global Times newspaper boasted in a series of articles over the weekend in both their English and Chinese editions that Honduras’s decision to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan is both ...
by Eric Olander

U.S. Analysts, Scholars Skeptical About the Benefits to Honduras From Ties With China

Honduras Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina (L) and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang raise a toast following the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, at a ceremony in the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on March 26, 2023. GREG BAKER / POOL / AFP
Honduran officials maintain that the decision to abandon ties with Taiwan in favor of China was an economic decision inspired by the hope of boosting Chinese trade and investment. But a number of ...
by Eric Olander

New Data Reveals Small Increase in Chinese Lending to Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean

China is once again extending development finance loans to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, albeit only a small fraction of what it lent to the region a decade ago. Brazil, Barbados ...
by Eric Olander

South Africa Hosts Trade Discussions With Chongqing, One of China’s Largest Industrial Cities

Image via the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Southwestern Chinese industrial mega-city Chongqing hosted a delegation from South Africa last week to discuss how the two sides can further increase the $600 million of trade the two sides did last ...
by Eric Olander

Egypt’s Chinese Green Hydrogen Project Could be a Blueprint for Africa

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and a group of Egyptian officials meet with representatives of the China International Energy Group (CIEG). Image via the Egyptian President's office.
Egypt and China are seeking to consolidate economic and investment cooperation in various areas of common interest, including clean energy through the China hydrogen project. The China International Energy Group (CIEG) intends to establish ...
by Njenga Hakeenah

WEEK IN REVIEW: Chinese President Xi Jinping Invites Russian President Vladimir Putin to Third Belt and Forum

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with China's President Xi Jinping at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 20, 2023. Sergei KARPUKHIN / SPUTNIK / AFP
Chinese President Xi Jinping invited Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to attend the third Belt and Forum that will take place later this year. Xi’s invitation followed a pledge to “significantly increase” trade between ...
by Eric Olander

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Weighing the Value of “Values”

I was in Berlin this week for a conference on the EU’s relationship with Africa in the context of the continent’s growing ties with external actors, many of whom Europe finds acutely worrying.
The conference eerily landed on the second anniversary of the October 7 attack in Israel. I was in Berlin two years ago as well. In the weeks after the attack, one could see how Western powers’ ...

China Pushes Back at Outgoing World Bank President’s Criticism That Beijing Isn’t Doing Enough on Debt Relief

File image of World Bank President David Malpass, who repeated his criticism this week that China isn't moving fast enough to help developing countries restrucutre their debts. Brendan Smialowski / AFP
The Chinese government clapped back on Wednesday against renewed criticisms from outgoing World Bank President David Malpass that Beijing isn’t moving fast enough to restructure debts in many of the world’s poorest countries. ...
by Eric Olander

World Bank Nominee Meets Head of China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

World Bank President-nominee Ajay Banga meets with the head of the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Liqun Jin, on 22 March 2023 during his brief trip to Beijing. Image via @AIIB_Official Twitter Page
World Bank President-nominee Ajay Banga met with the head of the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on Wednesday during his brief trip to Beijing. The AIIB released a short statement after the ...
by Eric Olander

Benin’s Finance Minister Meets With China Exim Bank President

TWEET TRANSLATION: Fruitful working session with Mr. Ren Shengjun, President of EXIMBANK of China. Our discussions focused on the bank's investments in Benin to stimulate our economic development.
Beninese Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni is in Beijing this week, where he met with China Exim Bank President Ren Shengjun. Neither side released details of the meeting, but it does highlight how China ...
by Eric Olander

Key International Stakeholders Gather in Beijing to Discuss How to Bolster African Industrial Supply Chains

China's top diplomat for Sub-Saharan Africa, Wu Peng (top right), United Nations Resident Coordinator for China, Siddharth Chatterjee (bottom left) and Development Reimagined CEO Hannah Ryder (lower right) were among the speakers at the event.
The China-Africa Business Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized a seminar in Beijing this week that brought together high-level representatives from government, industry and civil society to discuss how to increase ...
by Eric Olander

Why the U.S. is Probably Quite Interested in the Equatorial Guinea Foreign Minister’s Visit to China

Equatorial Guinea (EG) Foreign Minister Simeón Oyono Esono Angue began a four-day visit to Beijing on Wednesday, where he will meet with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang. Normally, a visit like this from such ...
by Eric Olander

China’s CMOC Set to Overtake Switzerland’s Glencore as the DR Congo’s Top Cobalt Producer

CMOC Group is forecast to overtake Swiss mining giant Glencore as the largest producer of cobalt when the Chinese company brings another massive mine online later this year. Cobalt is a critical ingredient ...
by Eric Olander

New Foreign Ministry Annex in Ghana and a Newly Refurbished Parliament Building in Malawi Are China’s Latest “Gifts” to African Governments

Chinese ambassador to Ghana Lu Kun together with Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey break ground on the new foreign ministry annex in Accra. Images via the Chinese Embassy in Accra.
Ghana’s Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey was visibly excited to see what her new office will look like in the new $20 million foreign ministry annex building that will be entirely paid for by ...
by Eric Olander

Vietnamese Authorities Seize Tons of Ivory, Most Likely Bound for China

Vietnamese customs authorities in the northern city of Hai Phong seized seven tons of Angolan ivory. Image via the city of Hai Phong.
Vietnamese customs authorities in the northern port city of Hai Phong intercepted a massive seven-ton shipment of illicit ivory that originated in Angola and traveled via Singapore. Inspectors discovered the contraband on Monday after ...
by Eric Olander

Newly-released Sat Photos Show Chinese-funded Navy Base Taking Shape in Cambodia

Satellite imagery of Ream Naval Base from February 2023, annotated to show the shape of the pier extension. Image courtesy of BlackSky.
New satellite photos show that Chinese contractors have made considerable progress in building an extension of the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia. The images taken by the private company Blacksky reveal the submerged ...
by Eric Olander

Taiwan President Heads to Central America to Bolster Ties With Two of the Island’s Last Few Diplomatic Allies

President Tsai Ing-wen will travel to Guatemala and Belize next week to bolster ties with Taiwan's last remaining diplomatic allies. Sam Yeh / AFP
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will embark on a three-nation tour of the Americas that will include a stopover in the United States before heading to Belize and Guatemala, two of Taipei’s last remaining diplomatic ...
by Eric Olander

Publicly, China Says It’s Not Worried About Closer Japan-India Ties

Political cartoon published the Communist Party of Chiuna-run Global Times newspaper that aimed to criticize this week's Japan-India summit in New Delhi. Image via the Global Times.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not formally respond to this week’s Japan-India summit, but as is so often the case, Beijing leveraged the sharp-tongued CPC-run Global Times newspaper to speak on its behalf. ...
by Eric Olander

Evan Feigenbaum on Why Xi’s Russia Visit is Critical for China’s Global South Agenda

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with China's President Xi Jinping at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 20, 2023. Sergei KARPUKHIN / SPUTNIK / AFP
Speculating about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s motives for meeting with Vladimir Putin and whether he’s serious about brokering a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine or just trolling the West has become something ...
by Eric Olander

Russia Knocks Saudi Arabia From Top Spot as China’s Leading Oil Supplier

Source: China's General Administration of Customs via Reuters.
Russia overtook Saudi Arabia in the first two months of the year as China’s largest oil supplier, with purchases surging 24% compared to the same time last year, according to new Chinese customs ...
by Eric Olander

Xi Demands “Severe Punishment” for Assailants Who Killed 9 Chinese Miners in Central African Republic

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the Central African Republic (CAR) to find the attackers who raided a mining company early Sunday morning and killed 9 Chinese nationals. The President called for ...
by Eric Olander

The Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe Takes Aim at Remarks by Washington’s Ambassador-Designate to Harare

The Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe published a blistering response to comments made by U.S. Ambassador-designate Pamela Tremont during her Senate confirmation hearings last week in Washington, D.C. During questioning, Tremont was pressed by ...
by Eric Olander

IMF Head Kristalina Georgieva Will Go to Beijing in Bid to Break Debt Relief Impasse With China

File image of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kirstalina Georgieva will travel to China at the end of this week for a visit that will be closely watched by finance ministries throughout the Global South. The primary ...
by Eric Olander
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