Allegations and accusations that China is trapping Africa into unsustainable debt agreements have dominated the conversation around Africa-China relations in Western media, but what does the data tell us? The reality is that China is canceling 23 loans to African countries amid this 'Debt Trap' debate. We look at the international implications of this claim, what debt trap diplomacy is, and who owns most of Africa's external debts. Featuring Sri Lanka, the African Development Bank, and the “secret” lenders they don’t tell us about, with Mikaela Nhondo Erskog researcher at TriContinental Institute for Social Research and one of the hosts of the new podcast The Crane, an African China podcast by the Dongsheng Collective. Plus: We discuss Mikhail Gorbachev’s legacy, what to make of Biden’s student loan debt moves, Lindsey Graham’s threats of “riots in the streets” if Trump is prosecuted, and more...
West projecting its own image onto China when labeling it imperialist
According to many Western commentators—from the center-left to the far-right—China is the major threat to democracy, climate, peace and sovereignty in the 21st century. It is an issue where Donald Trump and Joe Biden are completely aligned. On the...
In their reporting on China, the Western mainstream media conjure up a massive real estate crisis, enormous youth unemployment and a severe economic crisis. But the collective West is harming itself with illusions about China's economy, as you will see below.
“China is in the midst of a profound...
In the summer of 2024, this author participated in a media tour of China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), at the invitation of the State Information Council Office of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
And what was found?
That despite the Western narrative of genocide, cultural repression and forced labor,...
Distorted coverage of alleged removal of Hu Jintao from Communist Party Congress is par for the course along with other recent coverage.
It is common for Western media to automatically imply or label everything that happens in China as “evil.” The most recent case concerns the events surrounding former Communist...
Sending U.S. Warships into South China Sea and Taiwan Strait in Violation of UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
On June 25, the U.S. Navy sent a warship, the USS Benfold, to the South China Sea, only one day after a U.S. spy plane provocatively flew over the...
Of course, police brutality against peaceful protesters in China and elsewhere is reprehensible and condemnable. When it happens in China, it is particularly heinous—at least from the point of view of Western mainstream media and politicians who are particularly concerned about human rights in China.
Only exceptionally does a Western...
The U.S. Government and its media echo chamber accuse China of committing genocide against Muslims in Xinjiang when, despite some persecution, China has attempted to integrate the Uyghur population into China and lift a disadvantaged minority
Long before hitherto unknown Xinjiang, a western province of China, became a focal point...
Background observations by a European author living in Asia on the current escalation with China
After the megaphones of the West have already called for all-out economic war against Russia, the battle cry against China is now being heard, regardless of the consequences for the “common people.” The reaction of...
Note before starting: Hats off to CGTN for its excellent video, “The Untold Story of Meng Wanzhou.” I referred to it extensively to expand my research.
The prosecution of telecommunications giant Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou on charges of violating U.S. sanctions policies with Iran has been very politicized from the...
