Kenya and China Upgrade Relations

Reuters published on 24 April 2025 an article titled "China, Kenya Upgrade Ties Amid 'Turbulent International Situation'" by Farah Master. 

During a recent visit to Beijing, Kenyan President William Ruto signed 20 agreements and upgraded ties to a "new level."  Kenya has been a key recipient of loans from the Belt and Road Initiative.  Xi Jinping described the upgrade in relations as occurring "in the face of a turbulent international situation."

Trump's Trade Policy, China, and Africa

 The China Global South Project published on 13 April 2025 a commentary titled "What Trump's Trade Policy Means for Africa, China, and the Future of Global Trade" by Obert Bore.  

The escalation of the US-China trade war entangles African economies, which are caught in the middle.  It may also undermine the African Continental Free Trade Area.

China-Africa Economic Dispute Settlement

 The Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business published in the spring of 2023 a research article titled "Trends in China-Africa Economic Relations and Dispute Settlement" by Won Kidane, Villanova University School of Law.

While trade relations between China and Africa are theoretically subject to the same multilateral World Trade Organization rules, they are in practice mostly based on informal unilateral concessions.  Moreover, investment relations are partially governed by fragmented and mostly outdated bilateral investment treaties, and commercial relations are formalized by ad hoc contractual instruments of diverse origin and deployment.  

China's Pursuit of Food and Energy Security in the Indian Ocean

 The Stockholm-based Institute for Security & Development Policy published an issue brief on 30 June 2023 titled "China's Pursuit of Food and Energy Security in the Indian Ocean: Consequences for India's Development" by Neeraj Singh Manhas and Jay Maniyar.

China and India have given a high priority to achieving food and energy security.  China's engagement in the Indian Ocean is designed to have a strong foothold in the region and to fulfill its domestic demands for energy, food, raw materials, minerals, crude oil, and other essential commodities.

This issue brief, written from an Indian perspective, discusses whether a relentless pursuit of food and energy security in the Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific regions by China will be a cause of concern for New Delhi and how it poses a strategic hindrance to the national and maritime security of India.  

Impact of AGOA Suspension on Ethiopia, Guinea, and Mali

 The Conversation published on 25 January 2022 a commentary titled "US Trade Pact Suspensions: What It Means for Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea" by Zakaria Sorgho, Universite Laval.  

The suspension of Ethiopia, Mali, and Guinea from eligibility to the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act will not be particularly harmful to them as the US market is not important to their export growth.  

China's Digital Silk Road Encourages Authoritarian Model

A Democratic staff report prepared for the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on 21 July 2020 titled "The New Big Brother: China and Digital Authoritarianism" details China's growing influence on the digital sphere as China promotes an alternative model for the digital domain based on state control.

China's Belt and Road Initiative contains an effort to create a Digital Silk Road that will allow it to shape the future of the global Internet and reinforce the Communist Party of China's leadership at home for decades to come.  Other nations such as Zimbabwe have or are looking to acquire Chinese information and communication technologies (ICT) and integrate them into their national infrastructures, opening up potential opportunities for abuse.  

China's efforts to advance and proliferate its ICT hardware and systems, both in China and overseas, represent not only a desire to continually expand its economy, but also to push to establish, expand, internationalize, and institutionalize a model for digital governance that this reports describes as "digital authoritarianism."

Is Africa Getting What It Needs from China?

Premium Times published on 19 May 2020 a commentary titled "China, Africa and the World after COVID-19" by Kingsley Moghalu, former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The author concludes that African countries are approaching their relations with China in the wrong way.  Relations have been focused on trade and access to cheap loans, both of which will likely decline in the post-COVID-19 world.  He suggests that African countries should be advancing their strategic interests such as challenging in the World Trade Organization the dumping of Chinese goods in African markets.

How China Sees the Global Order

The European Council on Foreign Relations published on 9 March 2017 an analysis titled "Expanded Ambitions, Shrinking Achievements: How China Sees the Global Order" by Francois Godement.

The author concludes that Europe should not expect China to replace the US as a dependable bastion of a free-trading and rules-based world order. At the same time, China's political system affords opportunities for sectoral cooperation when it matches Chinese interests such as participation in peacekeeping operations in Mali and South Sudan.

China and UN Peacekeeping in Africa

Foreign Policy Analysis published on 20 December 2016 an analysis titled "A Bigger Bang for a Bigger Buck: What China's Changing Attitude Toward UN Peacekeeping Says About Its Evolving Approach to International Institutions" by Meicen Sun, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Most Chinese troops assigned to UN peacekeeping operations are located in Africa. This paper shows that China's attitudinal change toward UN peacekeeping is best captured by a shift from a present-cost-driven, "purchase" model of participation in international institutions to a future-benefit-driven, "investment" model of participation.

China's WTO Compliance: The US Reaction

The China Policy Institute at the University of Nottingham asked me to write a commentary dealing with China and the World Trade Organization (WTO). I chose to do "China's WTO Compliance: The US Reaction," which appeared on 14 November 2016.

This piece summarizes the U.S. view of China's response to the WTO and areas where the United States has continuing concerns about China's compliance.

Are the BRICS on the Same Page?

The recently concluded BRICS' Summit in Ufa, Russia, has resulted in a torrent of analysis about the organization.  I include three provocative analyses below.

The Carnegie Moscow Center published on 8 July 2015 an analysis titled "Why Do Brazil, Russia, India and China Need BRICS?" by Alexander Gabuev, Andrey Movchan, Petr Topychkanov, and Sergei Vasiliev.  It compares the different interests of four of the member countries in the BRICS.

Commodities Now published on 7 July 2015 an article titled "BRICS Trade Strategy: Time for a Rethink."   It looks at trade distortions among the member states.

Quartz India published on 9 July 2015 an article titled "Despite the Happy Photos and Handshakes, the BRICS Are Frenemies in Trade" by Madhura Karnik.  It also focuses on trade competition among the member nations.