Rajpriya Gautam

C … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Two New Huawei-Powered 5G Networks Launch in Africa <div class="cap-padlock"> <svg version="1.1" xml:space="preserve" viewBox="0 0 735 980" > <defs /><g transform="translate(-132.5,-10)"><g ><g ><g ><path fill="#c5c5c5" d="M 745,412.9 V 255 C 745,119.9 635.1,10 500,10 364.9,10 255,119.9 255,255 V 412.9 H 377.5 V 255 c 0,-67.6 54.9,-122.5 122.5,-122.5 67.5,0 1...

In the first of a three-webinar series, the  Le Collectif pour le Renouveau Africain (CORA)  brought together a group of leading African analysts and scholars to discuss local agency in Africa-China negotiations. The panelists and discussants analyzed the extent of agency exercised by local actors in Chinese-funded infrastructure and mining projects in Africa. Dr. Folashade Soule, senior research associate at the Global Economic Governance programme (Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford), was joined by Dr. Hervé Lado, an economist on political economy, Merlin Brice Mbessa Nya, a doctoral student at the University of Yaounde in Cameroon and Dr. Oscar Otele, senior lecturer at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. Otele highlighted that Chinese infrastructural projects in Kenya led to anticipation and excitement among local populations due to expectations of jobs and other related opportunities. However, he stressed that there is a need for all loan contracts of m...

A military stand-off between a Chinese-run mining company and the DRC’s state-owned mining giant Gécamines is heading to arbitration.   Congolese army forces took control of two of the Australian-based, Chinese-controlled company MMG’s mines in Haute Katanga. After the company’s appeals to Congolese authorities went unanswered, MMG is now hoping arbitrators at the International Chamber of Commerce will be able to resolve the dispute prompted the soldiers to occupy the pair of mines.  (CONGO TODAY — in Chinese) Japan and Australia have agreed to boost security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific in what’s widely seen as the two Quad members’ latest effort to confront China’s growing influence in the region, particularly in the South Pacific.  Visiting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese signed an agreement on Saturday to boost military cooperation and intelligence sharing.  (AL JAZEERA) … Get a ...

A 24-ton shipment  of Kenyan avocados arrived in China’s Guangzhou harbor this week. It took years for Kenyan producers to clear import protocols, but the shipment shows that China is finally moving forward with its pledge to increase agricultural imports from Africa via so-called ‘green lanes.’ The importer said they’re planning to import 120 tons of avocados this season. Read  more on the FreshPlaza website … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Kenyan Avocado Exports to China Gather Speed <div class="ca...

The Singapore-based commodities trader  Trafigura announced  it will partner with the U.S. battery metals processing firm EVelution to build a battery-grade cobalt sulfate processing facility in Arizona.  The facility is projected  to produce 7,000 tons of cobalt sulfate by 2027, an estimated 40% of the projected demand.  The deal comes  as the U.S.Department of Energy allocated $2.8 billion to help about twenty American firms delink their battery supply chains from China.  … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here ...

The meeting this week between a group of African journalists and  Wu Peng , China’s top diplomat to Africa, became an example of how Chinese government officials use direct engagement with reporters as a messaging tool. China has cultivated support in the Global South for its much-criticized measures against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post China’s Messaging to Africa on Xinjiang in Action <div class="cap-padlock"> <svg version="1.1" xml:space="...

There’s been a lot of discussion in recent months about the sharp curtailment of Chinese spending for Belt and Road projects.  New data released on Tuesday by the Ministry of Finance might provide some insight as to why. The budget deficits across all levels of government in China reached an all-time high in the first nine months of the year, brushing up against a trillion dollars. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post These Charts Explain Why China is Cutting Back on Spending For BRI Projects <div class=...

The Hong Kong-based television network TVB is  facing criticism following this week’s broadcast of its popular drama series  Come Home Love: Lo and Behold , which featured actors wearing blackface. The offending scene had a number of young Hong Kong actors wearing dark full-face makeup and dancing while carrying a coffin in an apparent attempt to emulate Ghanaian  Dancing Pallbearers . … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Here We Go Again… More Blackface on Chinese Television <div class="cap-padlock...

China will not promote loan-supported projects to the Global South but will be led by recipient country demand. This was one of the takeaways from  a recent interview  with China’s ambassador to Kenya, Zhou Pingjian. His comments  included hints of China’s emerging, more cautious approach to Global South lending, as many countries face debt distress. Kenya is a key example, and Zhou’s interview came as  China’s loans to Kenya declined  for the first time in twenty years, from $7.05 billion in 2021 to $6.83 billion now. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) ...

China often assures African countries that they won’t be made to ‘choose sides’ in a new cold war. However,  a recent op-ed  by a prominent Africa-focused think tanker makes clear that Beijing increasingly sees the continent as a stage for geopolitical competition.  Yao Guimei, the director of the Center for South African Studies at the China-Africa Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a key government-linked think tank, recently published  an op-ed  that laid out China’s views of how its direct competition with different global powers shakes out in Africa. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. ...

The Biden administration  frames its fight  with China for influence in the Global South as a struggle between democracy and autocracy. Both sides argue that their systems boost development. The result is that Africa’s development space is increasingly clogged with geopolitics.  The prominent Africa-China researcher Stella Hong Zhang, a China Public Policy Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, recently added some rare  on-the-ground nuance  to this discussion.  … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Clic...

West and Central Africa house some of the world’s last remaining old-growth rainforests.  Asian timber companies  are now driving widespread irresponsible logging, leaving ruined ecosystems in their wake.  However, simply blaming ‘China’ for this destruction is unrealistic. The environmental platform Mongabay recently published a hugely helpful  rundown of players  in the West African logging industry. It shows how complicated the problem is. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Exposed: The ...

The steadily deteriorating ties between the United States and Saudi Arabia are coinciding with what appears to be a concerted shift by the Kingdom to foster closer ties with Asia’s largest powers, namely China, India, and South Korea. On Friday, Saudi Arabia’s powerful Oil Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman met for one-on-one talks with China’s top energy official Zhang Jianhua  to discuss closer energy cooperation in the oil, nuclear, and new energy sectors . … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Annoyed With ...

The fact-checking team at Pesa Check debunked a photo that’s been circulating on Twitter and Facebook showing Hong Kong superstar Jackie Chan purportedly wearing a t-shirt with a photo of the first son of Uganda, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, with the caption “The Next President.” The problem is, the photo of Chan is almost 13 years old! … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post No, Jackie Chan Didn’t Wear a T-Shirt Promoting Uganda’s First Son to Be “The Next President” <div class="cap-padlock"> <svg version...

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long said there is no consensus yet about China joining the trans-Pacific trade pact CPTPP.  Although Prime Minister Lee said on Tuesday that he personally believes China would be able to meet the bloc’s admission requirements, Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell is on record opposing Beijing’s efforts to join. Consensus among the group’s 11 countries is required for any new member to join the group.  (REUTERS) Chinese and Indian military commanders met for the first time in three months for talks over troop deployments along their disputed border known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).  No breakthroughs were reported after Friday’s talks but just the fact that they met at all was seen as an accomplishment. The two sides have been locked in a military standoff along the LAC since May 2020 with each having deployed 50,000 troops to the Himalayan border region.  (THE HINDU) … Get a daily email packed with the latest...

This week’s confirmation hearing  for Kenya’s new Transport Secretary included some revealing details about prominent Chinese projects like the recently inaugurated Nairobi Expressway.  Kipchumba Murkomen reacted to  widespread complaints about the tolls charged to use the road, a key part of its public-private partnership funding agreement with China Road and Bridge Corporation.  Murkomen criticized the deal , saying he’s concerned that the Expressway deal will benefit Chinese investors more than the Kenyan public. However,  he said the tolls will stay  and may be instituted on other roads, too, in order to pay for upgrades.  … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... fin...

The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), a U.S. think tank affiliated with the Center for Strategic and International Studies,  published satellite images  appearing to show rapid progress in the Chinese-constructed Ream naval base in Cambodia, with land being cleared and construction underway. This will add to  ongoing concerns  in Washington that the Chinese military will use the base. But a spokesperson for the Cambodian government  put the blame  for growing geopolitical tensions on the U.S.: “They set an agenda to choose between the US or China,” he said. “ASEAN or Cambodia does not choose the US or China. We do not choose anyone.” … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Globa...

The Wall Street Journal has published a series of  articles  and  videos  over the past three weeks detailing what they’re describing as “Belt and Road 2.0” — a slimmed down, much more conservative version of the nearly ten-year-old Chinese global infrastructure initiative. According to the Journal , the core issue is that Chinese policymakers extended far too much credit to low and middle-income countries that are now finding it difficult to repay billions of dollars of loans. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn Mo...

A recent column by CGSP Editor-in-Chief Eric Olander that said Xi Jinping’s speech at the 20th Party Congress last Sunday pointed to a re-prioritization of Chinese foreign policy objectives focused primarily on competition with the U.S. and fortifying its near-abroad sparked a robust discussion online.  Specifically, some took issue with Olander’s suggestion that Africa and other developing regions further afield (beyond ASEAN and Central Asia) will receive less attention in this new era. Paul Nantulya, an Africa-China scholar at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, D.C., added in a multi-part Twitter thread that Olander’s argument lacked nuance: … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global Sout...

The People’s Liberation Army Navy’s 42nd naval escort taskforce began operations in the Gulf of Aden last Saturday as part of the 14-year-long multinational anti-piracy campaign off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden. The newly-arrived Chinese vessels replaced other PLAN forces that had completed their deployment. Read more on the PLA Navy’s WeChat page (in Chinese). The post New Chinese Naval Escort Task Force Joins Multinational Anti-Piracy Operations in the Gulf of Aden appeared first on The China Global South Project . source https://chinaglobalsouth.com/2022/10/19/new-chinese-naval-escort-task-force-joins-multinational-anti-piracy-operations-in-the-gulf-of-aden/

Multimodal rail-sea lines are increasingly transforming China’s trade with Europe and Africa. This week a train laden with Chinese products departed  Chengdu in China’s Sichuan province, bound for Casablanca in Morocco.  A second hybrid line is taking Chinese apple juice concentrate from Gansu province to Qingdao port, from where  it will leave for Cape Town, South Africa. These hybrid logistics links allow China to bypass chokepoints along traditional shipping routes while speeding up trade. Their rise comes with provincial governments’ efforts to build rural provinces like Gansu and  Hunan  into agricultural trade hubs, which feeds into China’s commitments to increase African agricultural imports at last year’s FOCAC summit.  … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese eng...

Ghana’s former President (and  possible future election contender ), John Dramani Mahama, called for Africa to close its trade gap with China and to move up the value chain, away from exporting raw materials.  He gave an address  at the 2022 Abuja Forum, which was co-hosted by the Gusau Institute, a Nigerian research center, and China’s Zhejiang Normal University. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Ghana’s Ex-President Calls for Africa-China Trade Development <div class="cap-padlock"> <svg ...

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is moving to expand its legal influence overseas, both in pursuit of its own objectives and as part of a broader effort to blunt the impact of U.S. extraterritorial laws,  according to a new report published on Monday by the U.S. Institute of Peace. While the U.S. and other democratic countries regularly speak of the importance of “rule of law” in the international system, China has a slightly different take on the issue. Rather than rule  of  law, the Chinese are promoting their idea of rule  by  law. It’s a subtle but important distinction and one that carries profound implications for other international actors, notably the U.S., according to the findings by Jordan Link, a Chinese policy analyst at the Center for American Progress (CAP), and Nina Palmer and Laura Edwards, who previously worked at CSGP. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key tren...

Chinese mining giant CMOC (previously known as China Molybdenum) denied new rumors that Congolese authorities had shut down operations at its massive TFM copper and cobalt mine in the southern DRC. “At present, TFM’s production and operation are normal,”  the company said in a short three-sentence statement published on its WeChat channel. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Chinese Mining Giant CMOC Bats Back Fresh Rumors Its TFM Cobalt Mine in the Congo Has Been Suspended <div class="cap-padlock">...

A massive strike is now underway in South Africa that threatens to cripple the country’s logistics sector, jeopardizing vast amounts of China-bound exports including strategic resources like cobalt.  76,000 workers at SA’s state-run port and rail operator walked off the job to demand higher wages. Already one company, Kumba Iron Ore, said that its shipments, most bound for China, are now at risk.  (NEWS24) There are renewed concerns over the safety of Chinese personnel in Nigeria following a weekend attack on a mine in the southern state of Ebonyi.  Bandits reportedly stormed the mine on Saturday, disarmed the security personnel, and then killed a Chinese national.No other details of the incident are available so it’s not entirely clear what prompted the assault.  (VANGUARD) … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that...

Morocco bought an unspecified number of Chinese-made Wing Loong II drones. The remote-controlled planes have both reconnaissance and strike capability and are an upgrade of the earlier Wing Loong drone. Morocco already owns four of these older models and similar tech from Israel and Turkey.  Read more on the Military Africa website … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Morocco Buys Chinese Drones <div class="cap-padlock"> <svg version="1.1" xml:space="preserve" viewBox=...

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed inaugurated a new Chinese-built museum of science in Addis Ababa last week. He said the museum “offers both the young and old a place to inquire, explore, innovate and invent” and praised how it was “built in a short timeframe.”  … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Ethiopia Debuts New Chinese-Built Science Museum <div class="cap-padlock"> <svg version="1.1" xml:space="preserve" viewBox="0 0 735 980" > <defs /><g ...

One of China’s most prominent Mideast scholars, Fan Hongda from the Middle East Studies Institute at Shanghai International Studies University, is expressing solidarity with anti-government protestors in Iran on social media. At the same time, he’s pushing the boundaries of what’s acceptable online speech for a Chinese academic. “Iranian friends often complain about why the  #Iranian  regime always does not listen to the voice of the people but acts against the people,”  Fan said in a post on Twitter published on Tuesday . “As a  #Chinese  in Shanghai for the past two years, I have come to understand the feelings of these Iranian friends more and more,” he added. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa ...