175 former heads of state, Nobel Prize winners and other illustrious eminences added their support to the call for the U.S. government to mandate a relaxing of intellectual property laws to allow countries in the Global South to mass-produce vaccines without fear of being sued. One of the more revealing details in this discussion is that the mechanism for countries to use a health emergency to momentarily suspend intellectual property rights already exists ...
Day: March 25, 2021
Human Rights, Non-Interference and Trade at the Top of Wang Yi’s Agenda in Saudi Arabia
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi kicked off a week-long six-nation tour of the Persian Gulf and Turkey on Wednesday with a stop in Riyadh, where he met with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan. Relations between the two countries have ...
China Extends Pandemic Relief to Another Multilateral Organization
China donated a batch of medical supplies (not vaccines though) to the United Nations Economic Commission in Africa in what now appears to be part of a larger effort to provide critical pandemic relief to United Nations organizations and other multilateral institutions. ...
Why Is China is Sending Vaccines to Certain Countries and Not Others?
The list of countries receiving Chinese vaccines around the world is large and growing but it's still not clear what criteria China uses to distribute vaccines to some countries over others. Two Czech researchers at the Association for International Affairs in Prague ...
In 5 Years, the Battle Over Cobalt is Going to Intensify… a LOT!
There are just five years left before the demand for cobalt, a critical metal used to make the batteries in electric vehicles, is going to outstrip the known supply of this strategically vital resource. And with 60-70% of the world's cobalt reserves located in ...
Example of How Chinese Propaganda Makes Its Way Into Africa’s News Feeds
Chinese propaganda dissemination in Africa extends far beyond the traditional radio, TV, and newspapers that most people focus on. In fact, there's evidence that indicates those platforms are actually not that effective at reaching large audiences, especially in Africa's intensely competitive media market.
Someone is Notably Absent From This Year’s Alibaba-Backed Africa’s Business Heroes Awards
Organizers of the annual Africa's Business Heroes prize sent out an announcement on Wednesday that the online portal to apply for the competition will open on Monday. In the past, just last year in fact, this same announcement had Jack Ma all over it. But not this ...