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Philippines’ Marcos Hopeful Strong Alliance With U.S. Will Continue

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos is hopeful that Manila and Washington will maintain its "strong and dynamic" relationship with the upcoming U.S. administration, a palace statement said Wednesday, less than a week before Donald Trump assumes office. The United States has a decades-old ...

Trump, China, and the Rest of Us

As we absorbed the news of another Trump term, my immediate conversations with friends split into two categories. With American and U.S.-adjacent friends, the conversation defaulted to (mostly despairing) unpackings of what happened. But the ...

China and the Gaza Crisis

In case you needed your geopolitical optics even starker than usual, this week rushed to comply. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi watched as representatives of fourteen Palestinian movements, including Hamas and Fatah, signed the Beijing Declaration.

ASEAN Under Pressure at Start of Leaders’ Summit

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders’ summit kicks off in Jakarta on Tuesday as it fights for its relevance and unity amid mounting geopolitical tensions. Increasing jockeying between China and the United States in the South China Sea has piled pressure ...

Chinese Scholars Say Closer Philippines-U.S. Ties Mark a “Dangerous Signal”

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his wife, Louise Araneta-Marcos, met U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris for brunch on Tuesday at her official residence in northwest Washington. D.C. During their talks at the residence, the two reaffirmed the strength of their ...

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 ...

Blinken Tries to Bolster Ties With Vietnam Amid Rising U.S. Tensions With China

Vietnam was again at the center of great power politics this weekend during a brief visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, his first trip to the country as Washington's top diplomat. Blinken's one overriding priority on this trip was ...

African Leaders Push Back Against Western Media Narratives on China

While Vice President Kamala Harris worked hard to keep the focus on U.S.-Africa relations during her recent tour of the continent, reporters in the traveling press corps kept bringing up China -- much to the chagrin of her hosts in Ghana, ...

African Leaders to Kamala Harris: We’re Going to Work With Both the U.S. and China

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is back in Washington, D.C., after wrapping up a week-long, three-nation tour of sub-Saharan Africa over the weekend. Before she left, Harris held a press conference on Friday with President Haikinde Hichilema, where she gently prodded China ...

Nigerian VP: “Most African Countries Are Rightly Unapologetic About Their Close Ties to China”

Nigeria's Vice President Yemi Osinbajo pushed back against Western criticisms of Chinese engagement in Africa, saying concerns over predatory lending are "an overreaction." The Vice President spoke at King's College in London, where he also reminded the audience that "the history ...

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

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 to China despite persistent questions from the traveling ...

Lending Data Offers Clue to China’s Global South Influence

A new report led by the U.S.-based research center AidData is drawing global attention this week. It shows that from 2008 to 2021, China spent $240 billion in bailouts and liquidity support to 22 Global South countries. Even though the report focuses ...

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

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 there.  Going all the way back to the ...
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