RightsCon, the world’s largest digital human rights conference, was forced to cancel its 2026 conference just days before it was to convene in the Zambian capital of Lusaka, reportedly due to Chinese pressure on the Zambian...
Several public opinion surveys published over the last few months paint a picture of China’s role in the world from the perspective of both Chinese and international respondents. These build on previous surveys from the past...
Reports and other media articles over the past month detail the ways in which the technology and norms underpinning China’s surveillance industry are proliferating in other countries around the world. This week, Emily...
At the start of 2025, analysts reflected on the trajectory of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) more than a decade after its launch. Years of massive overseas lending brought China to an unfamiliar role of being a major...
China’s AI industry has drawn increasing media attention as its progress generates excitement and trepidation about a global future fueled by Chinese AI. One dimension of this success is the ability of Chinese actors, such as...
Numerous public opinion surveys from around the world have highlighted a significant shift in global attitudes towards China. Respondents from countries in both the Global South and Global North have expressed increasingly...
An acidic waste spill by a Chinese company in Zambia has created a massive environmental crisis that threatens a river on which millions of Zambians rely. The incident occurred last month at a facility owned by Sino-Metals Leach...
Last month, CDT wrote about the ways in which Chinese training programs for African journalists shape perceptions of China, and the extent to which African journalists’ active participation therein supports foreign media...
To what extent do Chinese training programs for African journalists provide alternatives to overcome (historically Western) colonial practices of knowledge production, or instead perpetuate those same colonial practices? And how...
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi concluded a week-long trip to Namibia, the Republic of Congo, Chad, and Nigeria, as part of a 35-year tradition of China’s foreign minister visiting Africa at the start of each new year. Some of...
The full report can be read in PDF form here. Below is a brief introduction. A pilot study conducted by CDT and Doublethink Lab examines “embedded propaganda” (EP) in African news media. Our study defines EP as the practice of...
China has extended its dominance at home and abroad over critical minerals that are essential to future high-tech and renewable-energy industries. Amid intensifying geopolitical competition, Western countries are increasing...
China’s “distant-water fishing” (DWF) activities are both figurative and literal. Figuratively, the term “fishing the high seas” (远洋捕捞, yuǎnyáng bǔlāo) describes the phenomenon of cash-strapped local authorities replenishing...
The ninth edition of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) concluded last week in Beijing. This triennial summit attracted leaders from more than 50 African countries for a diplomatic fanfare of lavish state dinners,...
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