Saudi-Iran deal won’t bring peace to the Middle East but will enhance China’s role as power broker: After more than four decades as seemingly implacable enemies on either side of a deep political-religious divide in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and Iran have agreed to restore diplomatic relations and reopen embassies. The deal, which was …
How the west is finally hitting back against China’s dominance of cleantech: Climate change policy has entered a new era. The growing row between the United States and the European Union over the impacts of the new American green subsidy regime makes that all too clear. Yet in many ways, this story is ultimately about …
China’s spy balloon: inflatable eyes in the sky have been used in war for centuries: One of the more surreal sights of the recent Afghan war was tethered balloons (also known as “aerostats”) looming over the bases of international forces. These “persistent threat detection systems” carried a suite of 360-degree cameras providing a constant view …
China’s demand for Africa’s donkeys is rising. Why it’s time to control the trade: Women walk with their donkeys in Ethiopia's Amhara region. Buena Vista Images/GettyImages In recent years, there’s been a huge, rising demand for donkey hides in China, where they are used to make an ancient health-related product called ejiao. Ejiao is made …
China’s population decline is a result of decades of botched family planning measures and will have global implications: China’s population has fallen for the first time in 60 years and is set to be reduced by half by the end of the century. After declining for some years, China is now in what a government …
China’s COVID situation is dire – but it shouldn’t pose a big risk to other countries: China is currently in the midst of a severe wave of COVID infections and deaths. We don’t know exactly how bad it is because of significant gaps in official reporting, but by all indications, things are dire. News reports …
China’s increasing economic ties with the Gulf states are reducing the west’s sway in the Middle East: At the end of November 2022, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak announced that the “golden era” between Great Britain and China was over. China may not have been too bothered by this news however, and has been busy …
How China’s response to zero-COVID protests could affect global business: The recent protests in China against the country’s zero-COVID policy have been unprecedented in their scale, intensity and distribution. Protestors numbering in the thousands were reported in dozens of cities. Not since 1989’s Tiananmen Square protests has there been such widespread civil disobedience. The protests …
China’s ‘white paper’ protest movement echoes freedom struggles across Asia and the world: If there was a single trigger for the “white paper” uprising that has been sweeping China over the past few days, it was events in Ürümchi, the capital of Xinjiang province. Xinjiang’s lockdown has been the most severe in China, with many …
Ukraine war: China’s lukewarm support for Russia is likely to benefit Kyiv – here’s why: Things are not going well for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. On September 30 he announced the annexation of four Ukrainian regions that are partially controlled by Russia. Yet less than a day later, Ukrainian troops captured the strategic town …
Ukraine war: Putin’s failure will pave the way for China’s rise to pre-eminence in Eurasia: What had been suspected for some time has now come out into the open: China has “concerns” about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While this is hardly a big surprise, the source and venue of this admission is. Few would have …
UN report on China’s abuse of Uyghurs is stronger than expected but missing a vital word: genocide: The long-awaited UN report into human rights abuses committed in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) was finally published last week to a mixed reception. For some – principally the Chinese government – it went too far. Others …
Wolf Warrior II: what the blockbuster movie tells us about China’s views on Africa: Action flick Wolf Warrior II is one of China's most commercially successful films ever. Publicity still courtesy Wolf Warrior II/The H Collective/Well Go USA Entertainment The Chinese film Wolf Warrior II (2017) has been a runaway success – even though it …
Ukraine war: Russia’s G20 walkout heightens tensions at fractious summit as China’s rise continues: While G20 foreign ministers were meeting in Bali, Indonesia, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, threatened further escalation in his war against Ukraine, announcing to the world that “by and large, we have not started anything in earnest yet”. What he meant …
The Quad: US efforts to counter China’s influence in Asia mark a new era of micro alliances: US president Joe Biden recently visited Asia in an effort to strengthen relationships in the region, most notably meeting with leaders of the “Quad” alliance of America, Japan, India and Australia. This group of like-minded states represents a …
Mombasa Port: how Kenya’s auditor-general misread China’s Standard Gauge Railway contracts: A general view shows the Standard Gauge Railway train constructed by the Chinese Communications Construction Company and financed by Chinese government. Simon Maina/AFP via Getty Images In December 2018, a leaked letter from the Kenyan auditor-general’s office sparked a rumour that Kenya had staked …
China’s COVID crisis and the dilemma facing its leaders, by experts who have monitored it since the Wuhan outbreak: A Shanghai refuse worker shows the strain of the month-long COVID lockdown. Shutterstock More than two years after a deadly strain of coronavirus was first identified in the central city of Wuhan, China remains locked in …
Russia and China’s growing ‘friendship’ is more a public relations exercise than a new world order: Against the backdrop of a western diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, China and Russia have marked the occasion by showing off their increasingly close relationship. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin posed for pictures with Chinese leader Xi Jinping …