In terms of geopolitical optics, this week was nothing short of a banquet. It served up at least two sets of images that seem to crystallize our historical moment and that will live on in the Wikipedia of history as shorthand for where the world was in 2025.
One is the waves of uncannily synchronized soldiers and a bewildering array of high-tech weaponry gliding down Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue. The ...
Tag: Podcast
Related Posts
How Chinese EVs Are Powering Africa’s Mobility Revolution
Chinese e-mobility technology is poised to transform large swathes of Africa's transportation ecosystem in the coming decade, but in very different ways than in other regions where EVs are the primary focus. Bicylces, scooters, tricyles, tractors, cars, minibuses, and full-sized coaches, all ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: Kenya Courts China While U.S. Sounds Alarm Over Beijing’s Reach in Africa
Kenyan President William Ruto is scheduled to travel to Beijing later this month for an official state visit, where he's widely expected to finalize a long-awaited deal to extend the Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to the Ugandan border. But ...
China and the New World Trade War
U.S. President Donald Trump insisted on Monday that he will not back down from his massive tariff campaign that he launched last week and even promised to impose even higher duties on Chinese goods in response to Beijing's 34% tariff retaliation ...
South Africa’s Active Yet Unequal Trade With China
From afar, the China-South Africa trade relationship looks amazing. Last year, the two countries sold more than $52 billion worth of goods to one another — mostly raw materials from South Africa and finished goods from China.
Zimbabwe’s Fight for Responsible Mining: Lessons for Africa & China
In recent years, the relationship between Chinese mining companies and local communities in many African countries has been very contentious over allegations of environmental damage, a lack of transparency, and tensions with local civil society groups.
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Navigating U.S.-China Rivalry: Africa’s Strategic Response in the Trump Era
The U.S.-China relationship is at a critical inflection point as Donald Trump tries to reset ties with his counterpart Xi Jinping. The U.S. President has repeatedly said he wants to negotiate a comprehensive trade agreement that would, in his view, lead ...
Debate: Is China a Helpful or Horrible Trade Partner for Global South Countries?
At last week's Munich Security Conference, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi touted his country's 5% economic growth last year as a "benefit to the world" thanks to all of the trade it does with countries around the world. ...
[WEEK IN REVIEW] Who Gets to Tell the China-Africa Story?
Chinese engagement in Africa is seen by many people as a classic example of neo-colonial exploitation. China, according to the narrative, is merely the latest in a long line of predatory foreigners seeking to drain the continent's vast reserves of oil, ...
China’s Role in the Panama Canal Controversy
When Donald Trump criticized Panama for its management of the canal that he claimed had fallen under Chinese control, many people at first thought this was just another round of Trump's usual bluster. But since his election last November, the President ...
Railroads and Rivalries in Southern Africa
The U.S. and China plan to spend billions of dollars refurbishing key railway lines in southern Africa that link critical resource mining hubs in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo with ports on both sides of the continent.
China’s Response to the Wars in the Middle East
The rapidly escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon prompted a strong reaction from the Chinese government this week. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib on Monday at the UN in New York ...
Why the U.S. is Struggling to Compete in the Global Competition for Critical Resources
U.S. officials have spoken at length about the urgent need to end their country's dependency on China for the critical resources needed to power next-generation mobility and technology. Part of the solution, they say, is ...