In the News

Earlier today, a South African court blocked the onward overland shipment of a Chinese vessel carrying a consignment of weapons bound for Zimbabwe. The ship, the Ann Yu Jiang, has now left South African shores.

In Granta 92, Channel 4 News International editor and New Statesman columnist Lindsey Hilsum reported on China’s ‘rapidly growing influence’ on Africa. Hilsum notes that, in May 2005, ‘President Robert Mugabe — regarded as a pariah by Europe and the United States — told the crowd celebrating twenty-five years of Zimbabwe’s independence: “We have turned east, where the sun rises, and given our back to the west, where the sun sets”’.

The relationship between Africa and China has ramifications for everyone. Read Hilsum’s essay here.