China: Outsmarting the West in Africa

China's interest in Africa is frequently portrayed simply as that of a rising economic power seeking natural resources. Deborah Brautigam argues that this portrayal misses the full complexity of business relations between China and the continent.

DEVELOPMENT: China Moves from Aid Recipient to Aid Donor

When Britain announced it would stop giving public money to China as part of a plan to direct financial aid to countries in greater need, it was symbolic of China’s shift from aid receiver to aid giver.

CHINA: Giant Seeks to Play Superman

As China's aggressive acquisitions in Europe and beyond create ripples of unease in a global economy gripped by fear of another recession, many commentators are discerning a unified strategy for expansion orchestrated by Beijing.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA: China Goes for Friendly Giant Role in Mekong

The Mekong River is steadily emerging as a testing ground for public diplomacy, Chinese style. Beijing, it appears, wants to reach out to its southern neighbours who share the river more as a friendly giant than an imposing bully.

CHINA: Stigma Stays Despite Lifting of Ban on People with HIV

China’s lifting of its longstanding ban on foreign visitors with HIV removes a restriction that many Chinese doctors and activists find discriminatory, but erasing the stigma attached with the virus remains one of the biggest challenges ahead in facing the disease.

BRAZIL-CHINA: An Asymmetric Trading Partnership

"Brazil must increase the added value of its sales" to balance its trade with China, said Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the only note of criticism in his references to the partnership between the two countries after they signed a Joint Action Plan.

MEXICO-CHINA: Trade Winds from the East

China has replaced Mexico as the top supplier of goods to the United States, and experts say that a specific trade strategy is needed for this Latin American country to compete successfully with Beijing in the U.S. market, the world's largest.

US-CHINA: Taiwan Arms Sale Heats up Simmering Row

Trade relations between the U.S. and China appear to be hitting a rough patch, with China publicly threatening to impose sanctions on U.S. companies participating in the arms sales to Taiwan, leading some observers to express concern over the growing war of words between Washington and Beijing.

POLITICS: Russia, China Sustain Military Toehold in Yemen

Russia has stolen a march over the United States in the multi-million-dollar arms market in cash-strapped Yemen, whose weapons purchases are being funded mostly by neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

CHINA/US: Wealth of Nations Redefined

Chinese and United States leaders have hailed the 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries as one of the most defining bilateral ties of the 20th century, but Beijing and Washington are celebrating the anniversary in subdued mood.

CONFLICT: NGOs Launch Global Campaign to Ban Child Soldiers

A coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is spearheading a new global campaign to ban the use of child soldiers in military conflicts.

CONFLICT: U.N. Seeks Security Council Action on Child Soldiers

A senior United Nations official is urging the Security Council to publicly censure those who target, use and abuse children in military conflicts worldwide.

POLITICS-LEBANON: Israeli PM Confirms Withdrawal Offer at UN

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday reaffirmed to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Israel is willing to withdraw its troops from Southern Lebanon. Diplomats here and some of Israel's neighbours have doubted the seriousness of that offer.