China reluctant to commit to debt relief sought by Africa but pledges $58 billion support over three years
During those peak years, Beijing bankrolled the construction of roads, railways and bridges. But a drying up of funds since 2019 has left Africa with stalled construction projects.
Chinese President Xi pledges more aid to Africa at what’s now derided ‘parley of African beggars’ in Beijing
China has tried to position itself as a leader of the Global South, a catchphrase for the developing world. While others don’t necessarily see China as the leader, its message of rewriting the international order resonates with African nations that feel frustrated and abandoned by their traditional Western partners.
Recalcitrant China expected to listen more to mineral-rich African countries, give others a short shrift
China unveiled a $60 billion financing package at the 2015 FOCAC and repeated that in 2018. By the summit in Dakar in 2021, Beijing pivoted to trade and investments – a shift largely due to domestic financial pressures, the onset of Covid-19 and a commodities crash that hurt African economies.
Boston University study: China’s loans to Africa rise by $4.6 billion for the first time seven years
The new data comes as Beijing prepares to host African leaders next week for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which takes place every three years. There were 13 loan deals last year involving eight African countries and two African multilateral lenders, the study found.
Alreay rapidly running out of mothers, experts warn China’s new urbanisation policy will thwart its ‘birth-friendly society’ goal
At a twice-a-decade top political gathering last month, China announced plans to build a “birth-friendly society” – pledging to implement measures long-called for by population experts, such as lowering childcare and education costs.
University graduates in China now ‘full-time children’ or ‘rotten-tail kids’ as high unemployment bites
Rising unemployment in China is pushing millions of college graduates into a tough bargain, with some forced to accept low-paying work or even subsist on their parents’ pensions, a plight that has created a new working class of “rotten-tail kids”. The phrase has become a social media buzzword this year,...
United States and China resumed semi-official nuclear arms talks in five years, both eye Taiwan
Such discussions cannot replace formal negotiations “that require participants to speak authoritatively on issues that are often highly compartmentalised within (Chinese) government circles,” the spokesperson said.
Pig and haram: To turn off Muslims, US Army cast Chinese vaccines as derived from pork, therefore forbidden
By 2010, the military began using social media tools, leveraging phony accounts to spread messages of sympathetic local voices – themselves often secretly paid by the United States government. As time passed, a growing web of military and intelligence contractors built online news websites to pump US-approved narratives into foreign countries.
Ping pong: How China’s scramble to link US Army to the origin and spread of Covid stirred US propaganda machine
Health workers and the government struggled to get Filipinos vaccinated against Covid-19, despite mobile sites like this one, operating in May 2021 in Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines. At that time, the Philippines had one of the worst inoculation rates in Southeast Asia. The primary vaccine available then was Sinovac. Credit: Reuters
China keeps off as world leaders join Ukraine summit in Zurich in test of Kyiv’s diplomatic clout
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia would end the war in Ukraine only if Kyiv agreed to drop its NATO ambitions and hand over the entirety of four provinces claimed by Moscow – demands Kyiv swiftly rejected as tantamount to surrender.
