The China in Africa Podcast

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, Tanzania, and Zambia. But unlike previous high-level U.S. visits where African leaders politely side-stepped questions about the U.S.-China rivalry on the continent, this time they went out of their way to challenge the Western narrative about the Chinese presence in their countries. Francophone Editor Geraud Neema joins Eric & Cobus this week to discuss an unprecedented response by senior African officials in Ghana, Nigeria, DR Congo, and Zambia over the Western "obsession" with China. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Twitter: @ChinaGSProject| @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud YouTube: www.youtube.com/chinaafricaproject Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC: Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine عربي: www.akhbaralsin-africia.com | @AkhbarAlSinAfr JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim both wrapped up state visits to China last week and their discussions with President Xi Jinping revealed some fascinating linkages between contemporary Chinese foreign policy objectives and Beijing's historical perception of its role as Asia's central power. Antoine Roth, an international relations scholar at Tohoku University in Japan explores those themes in his new book "A Hierarchical Vision of Order: Understanding Chinese Foreign Policy in Asia." He joins Eric & Cobus from Sendai to discuss what lessons can be drawn from China's diplomatic history in Asia that can inform a better understanding of contemporary trends in Chinese foreign policy in other parts of the world. SHOW NOTES: Amazon: A Hierarchical Vision of Order: Understanding Chinese Foreign Policy in Asia by Antoine Roth: https://amzn.to/3m532qN JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Twitter: @ChinaGSProject| @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @antoineroth Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC: Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine عربي: www.akhbaralsin-africia.com | @AkhbarAlSinAfr JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

China's share of Ghana's $55 billion public debt is quite small at just $1.7 billion or 3% of the total, but Beijing nonetheless plays a critical role in Accra's efforts to revive its economy. The Ghanaian government needs China's support in order to secure an emergency financial package from the International Monetary Fund. While that may sound straightforward, it's not. Zambia is up against a similar challenge and its debt restructuring process has stalled, largely because of a stand-off between China and multilateral creditors over who should take losses on their loans. Isaac Kofi Agyei, a research and data analyst at Joy News -- one of Ghana's leading broadcasters and news outlets -- is closely following all of the developments in this story and joins Eric from Accra to discuss China's role in Ghana's unfolding economic crisis. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Twitter: @ChinaGSProject| @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @isaackofiagyei Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC: Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine عربي: www.akhbaralsin-africia.com | @AkhbarAlSinAfr JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chinese lending to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean is gaining momentum. For the second year in a row, China's two largest policy banks have increased lending to countries in the region, albeit in much smaller amounts than what they did a decade ago. At the same time, there's word that China has spent close to a quarter trillion dollars over the past twenty years to bail out dozens of countries struggling to stay afloat under the weight of such much debt. Margaret Myers, director of the Asia and Latin America program at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C., and Rebecca Ray, two of the world's leading experts in Chinese overseas development finance, join Eric to discuss how these two seemingly divergent trends actually align with one another and why the Americas is emerging as a key market for Chinese creditors. SHOW NOTES: Inter-American Dialogue: At a Crossroads: Chinese Development Finance to Latin America and the Caribbean, 2022 by Margaret Myers and Rebecca Ray: https://bit.ly/3LYKuTK Boston University Global Development Policy Center: "Small is Beautiful": A New Era in China's Overseas Development Finance?: https://bit.ly/3Hnm8iL JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Twitter: @ChinaGSProject| @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @myersmargaret | @bubeckyray Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC: Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine عربي: www.akhbaralsin-africia.com | @AkhbarAlSinAfr JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One week after a brutal attack on a Chinese mining site in the Central African Republic (CAR) that killed nine people and injured two others, it's still not clear who is responsible and why they did it. All Chinese personnel in the country have been ordered to evacuate remote areas and those in the capital Bangui are sheltering in place. Meantime, Chinese embassies in both Nigeria and South Africa issued urgent security warnings to their citizens in those countries to take immediate precautions against the threat of kidnapping and assault. Alessandro Arduino, an affiliate lecturer at King's College London and one of the world's foremost experts on Chinese private security issues, joins Eric, Cobus and Geraud to discuss the recent spate of attacks and whether the uptick in violence against Chinese nationals in Africa and elsewhere is part of a larger trend. SHOW NOTES: The Conversation: Wagner Group in Africa: Russia's presence on the continent increasingly relies on mercenaries by Alessandro Arduino: https://bit.ly/3z36SDW The Conversation: Chinese private security firms are growing their presence in Africa: why it matters by Alessandro Arduino: https://bit.ly/40nhqJA JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Twitter: @ChinaGSProject| @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC: Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine عربي: www.akhbaralsin-africia.com | @AkhbarAlSinAfr JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Reporting on China is difficult even for the most experienced journalist who's spent years living there and speaks the language. So, it's not surprising that reporters in Africa who've had limited exposure to the country often struggle to cover China-related news. In this special episode produced in conjunction with the Africa-China Reporting Project (ACRP) at Wits University in Johannesburg, Eric is joined by veteran China Watcher, Kaiser Kuo, founder and host of the popular Sinica podcast, to discuss how African journalists can improve their reporting on China. The interview with Kaiser was recorded during a live online workshop hosted by ACRP Project Coordinator Bongiwe Tutu that included questions from African journalists who participated in the event. SHOW NOTES: The China Project: Listen to the Sinica podcast: https://bit.ly/3lsspTl South China Morning Post: How Kaiser Kuo became a leading player in China podcasting and kept on rocking: https://bit.ly/3yXkUGU JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Twitter: @ChinaGSProject| @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @kaiserkuo | @sinicapodcast Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC: Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine عربي: www.akhbaralsin-africia.com | @AkhbarAlSinAfr JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's been a momentous past two weeks for Chinese foreign policy with major a breakthrough in the Sri Lanka debt impasse and the landmark announcement that Beijing helped to broker the restoration of ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Meantime, China also reacted strongly to the announcement that Australia plans to purchase nearly $400 billion of nuclear-powered submarines from the U.S. and the UK. In this new, more contentious era of great power rivalries, the question of where Africa fits into China's political priorities is now more relevant than ever. Beijing-based corporate attorney Kai Xue is well-positioned to know. He's been advising Chinese clients for years on Belt & Road projects in Africa and he joins Eric & Cobus to discuss why he thinks the continent is no longer as important to Chinese policymakers as it once was. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Twitter: @ChinaGSProject| @stadenesque | @eric_olander Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC: Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine عربي: www.akhbaralsin-africia.com | @AkhbarAlSinAfr JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This month's surprise announcement that China brokered the restoration of diplomatic relations between longtime rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia prompted widespread excitement in Beijing and considerable consternation among U.S. conservatives. The implication for both is that China's role in the process symbolized the decline of U.S. influence in the region. Not so says Mohammed Soliman, one of the leading Arab political analysts in Washington, D.C. based at the Middle East Institute and also a manager at McLarty Associates Middle East North Africa Program. Mohammed joins Eric to explain why he thinks the U.S. should not overreact and what lessons policymakers should take from what happened. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Twitter: @ChinaGSProject| @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @thisissoliman Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC: Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine عربي: www.akhbaralsin-africia.com | @AkhbarAlSinAfr JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

New details are emerging about the landmark diplomatic deal brokered by China for Saudi Arabia and Iran to restore diplomatic relations. The initial excitement about the prospects for peace between these two Persian Gulf rivals has given way to a more sober assessment that effectively says the agreement is a good first step but that's about it. The key test is going to be whether both sides are going to pull back from their proxy fights in places like Yemen. Until that's done, it's still too early to be overly optimistic. But what does this all say about China's emergence as a key diplomatic power broker? Tuvia Gehring, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, and Jacinto Scito, a policy fellow at the London-based Bourse & Bazaar Foundation, are two of the world's foremost scholars on China-Mideast relations and join Eric & Cobus to discuss their reactions to the deal and what it means for China and the wider Middle East. SHOW NOTES: The Atlantic Council: Full throttle in neutral: China's new security architecture for the Middle East by Tuvia Gering: https://bit.ly/3mUNmGQ JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Twitter: @ChinaGSProject| @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @geringtuvia | @jacoposcita Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC: Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine عربي: www.akhbaralsin-africia.com | @AkhbarAlSinAfr JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There was a major breakthrough this week in China's months-long standoff with the World Bank, IMF, and other multilateral creditors when Beijing agreed to fully back Sri Lanka's debt restructuring. The move now clears the way for Colombo to secure $2.9 billion in emergency IMF funding and to put the South Asian country on the path toward recovery. Now, everyone wants to know whether China will extend a similar offer to Zambia, Ghana, and Ethiopia which are also in the midst of similar debt restructuring talks or will it stick to its hardline position that multilateral lenders must also agree to accept losses on their loans to these countries. Yunnan Chen, a research fellow at the Overseas Development Institute in London, and Gyude Moore, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, two of the world's leading experts in this field, join Eric & Cobus to discuss China and the debt crisis in a number of African countries. SHOW NOTES: Overseas Development Institute: China in the multilateral development banks: evolving strategies of a new power by Yunnan Chen and Chris Humphrey: https://bit.ly/3CR6AiD Center for Global Development: Will China Play Its Part in Addressing African Debt Distress? by Gyude Moore: https://bit.ly/3ZHbI5u JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Twitter: @ChinaGSProject| @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @gyude_moore | @yunnanchen Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC: Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine عربي: www.akhbaralsin-africia.com | @AkhbarAlSinAfr JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.