In the International Herald Tribune, Howard French looks at how U.S. actions and words in Africa compare with those of China: Although Bush cannot fairly be said to have only now “discovered” Africa, this trip – from its...
An op-ed in the International Herald Tribune a couple of days ago argues that China is “overhauling” its attitudes toward the world’s despots, from North Korea to Burma to Sudan: The shift has been driven in part by China’s changing calculation of its economic and political interests. With its increased investments in pariah countries over […]
Lebanon’s Daily Star published an op-ed about China’s actions in Sudan, Burma and other regions: Overseas, China’s role in places like Sudan and Burma not only draws international opprobrium, but also taints its reputation. By maintaining cozy relations with repressive regimes and protecting them from international sanctions, China risks being seen as their accomplice. Even […]
As world leaders call on China to act in the Burma (aka Myanmar) crisis, an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times argues that China does not have the answer: China is not Myanmar’s biggest trading partner; Thailand is. “You keep seeing these references to Chinese oil and gas assets in Burma,” Overholt said. “The reality […]
From National Interest: China, China, China. It started with North Korea. It soon spread to Darfur. Now we need China for Burma. The Congo will probably be next. China has become the newest dues ex machina of international politics. In daytime it consorts with the forces of evil. At night, after pleadings from the world, […]
From Asia Times: While Myanmar’s military government cracks down on peaceful protesters, China, as one of the regime’s main benefactors, is being held in some quarters as tangentially co-responsible for the violence. Although China’s ability directly to influence the regime is limited, Beijing does maintain considerable diplomatic sway in Yangon, and whether it supports new […]
From The Washington Post: A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy said yesterday that his government is working hard to stem the violence in Burma and argued against efforts by activists to link participation in the Beijing-based 2008 Summer Olympics to China’s handling of Burma. Linking the two is “totally irresponsible,” Wang Baodong, spokesman for the […]
From IPS: Jarring against a dearth of official news about the turmoil in Burma, the ‘Southern Weekend’ — one of China’s more liberal official newspapers — has chosen to run a lengthy feature about an ethnic Chinese entrepreneur striking it rich in the jade business in that neighbouring country. But the feature was curiously apt. […]
From The Washington Post: In the early hours of June 4, 1989, I was on Chang’an Street, just west of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, when I saw Chinese soldiers open fire and kill many of my fellow protesters. I barely escaped the same fate. The horror of that day is seared in my mind like […]
From The New York Times: See No Evil, Speak No Truth After decades of brutal military rule, Myanmar’s people have taken to the streets to demand democracy, and they are being mowed down. China, India and Russia have the means ” but apparently not the will ” to stop Myanmar’s vicious junta from murdering more […]
On China’s role in the unfolding civil crisis in Burma, why has Beijing long been the junta‘s main guardian, ready to resist any attempt to subject it to scrutiny? From The Guardian: China has expanded into key Burmese sectors such as natural gas, hydropower, minerals, wood, fisheries and farm produce as well as illicit narcotics, […]
With the military government of Myanmar/Burma launching a violent crackdown on peaceful protesters, much attention is being paid in the international media to what role China can and should play in influencing the outcome....
From BBC News: China is one of the closest allies of the ruling junta in Burma, but so far it has not made any public comment about the protests there. Traditionally, Beijing says that it does not comment on – or interfere in – other countries’ internal affairs. But China will be concerned about two […]
It seems now that reports of China withdrawing aid from Zimbabwe’s Mugabe regime were wrong. From Xinhua: The Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe on Tuesday dismissed as false media reports claiming that China has withdrawn all assistance except humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe. A spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy said contrary to the reports, Zimbabwe and China […]
The Chinese government has announced plans to drop all support for Zimbabwe, except humanitarian assistance, in an effort to tone down its support for dictatorial regimes: Robert Mugabe is to lose vital support from one of his few remaining allies on the world stage, China. One of the Zimbabwe president’s oldest diplomatic friends, China yesterday […]
In a sign that international criticism of China’s support for the ruthless regime of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe may have had an effect, Chinese diplomats are apparently less enthusiastic about relations between the two countries. But a cooling in ties may be due as much to economic concerns on both sides as politics: In the […]
In a lengthy article in Germany’s Der Spiegel, Andreas Lorenz and Thilo Thielke examine the consequences for Africa of China’s powerful presence on the continent: In the early 1990s, Zambia abandoned its socialist planned economy, Kaunda withdrew from politics and the ongoing slump in copper prices precipitated an economic crisis. In the late 1990s, when […]
As a new report from Amnesty International criticizes China for supplying arms to Sudan, the Washington Post reports that China is making plans to send a military engineering unit to assist the African Union peace-keeping troops in the war-torn region of Darfur, Sudan: The decision to help bolster the 7,000 African Union peacekeepers was seen […]
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