What to expect from the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit

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Written by Super User

Category: Asia

Published: 04 September 2024

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By Joe Cash

BEIJING - China's President Xi Jinping will open the ninth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit on Thursday, where he is expected to urge African leaders gathered in Beijing to absorb more Chinese goods in exchange for pledges of loans and investment.

The three-yearly forum officially kicks off today with a welcome dinner for the 50 African nations in attendance and will close on Friday, after negotiations over cooperation documents setting the course of China-Africa relations up until 2027.

China approved loans worth $4.61 billion to Africa last year, the first annual increase since 2016.

WHAT IS CHINA'S PITCH?

The world's biggest bilateral lender wants to slim down its investment portfolio and re-align its relations with developing economies around Xi's new mantra of "small and beautiful projects," instead of big-ticket infrastructure.

Infrastructure appeared only once in Xi's address to the last summit in Dakar in 2021, where he pledged to support 10 projects to improve the interconnectivity of African states.

On Thursday, analysts anticipate the Chinese leader to talk up the competitiveness of its green technologies, which the U.S. and Europe maintain it has overcapacity in, and Beijing needs to find buyers for, as well as technology transfer schemes and more people-to-people exchanges.

China could also pledge to increase the amount availabe to African central banks and businesses through credit lines, after committing $10 billion dollars at the last summit, in addition to support in developing digital finance and e-payment systems.

WHAT DO THE AFRICAN DELEGATES WANT?

African leaders will be looking for quicker financing solutions to a growing debt crisis across the continent in the Beijing Action Plan of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation for 2025-2027, as well as fresh job-creating investment pledges and assurances projects proposed in Dakar will be completed.

South Africa's president on Monday told Xi he wanted to narrow his country's trade deficit with China, an aspiration almost all African states share, which leaders will be hoping Beijing responds to with better terms for their agricultural and natural resources exports.

Delegates will also be looking for assurance that a pledge from the 2021 summit that China would buy $300 billion worth of African goods will be met.

Analysts say Beijing's phytosanitary market access barriers are too strict, preventing African food exporters from selling into the 1.4 billion strong consumer market.

Over the course of the week, African leaders have also been meeting Chinese firms to encourage them to set up manufacturing hubs in their countries, to help move their industrial sectors up the value chain.

WHAT HAPPENS IN BEIJING?

On Tuesday, China's foreign and commerce ministers met with delegates at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse to begin discussions over two documents: the action plan for 2024-2027 and a report on the implementations of the last summit in Dakar.

The two documents will be finalised and signed off by all delegates by the end of the summit.

African and Chinese negotiating teams have been meeting at least twice a year since the last forum, but the in-person meeting presents presidents with a chance to personally involve themselves in the negotiations.

A procession of presidents has passed through Beijing's Great Hall of the People in the days leading up to the summit, with Xi having already met more than 20 heads of state, according to Chinese state media.

This year's forum is the first in-person summit since COVID, with the Dakar meeting taking place largely online, and Chinese and African leaders alike are using the gathering to hold various bilateral meetings.

African and Chinese Priorities Ahead of FOCAC 9

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Written by Super User

Category: Asia

Published: 01 September 2024

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BEIJING - African leaders will arrive in China’s capital this week for the China-Africa summit taking place from 4-6 September, seeking funds for big-ticket infrastructure projects as they face mounting great power competition over resources and influence on the continent.

China has expanded ties with African nations in the past decade, providing them with billions in loans that have helped build infrastructure. However, China has also sometimes stoked controversy by saddling countries with huge debts.

China has sent hundreds of thousands of workers to Africa to build its megaprojects, tapping the continent’s vast natural resources, including copper, gold, lithium, and rare earth minerals.

China, the world’s second-largest economy, is Africa’s largest trading partner. According to Chinese state media, bilateral trade hit $167.8 billion in the first half of this year.

As we approach the ninth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), anticipation is growing around the key themes and deals that will emerge from the meeting. While China and Africa are aligned on many critical issues, their interests heading into FOCAC 9 also diverge in important ways.

Since the first FOCAC gathering in 2000, the meeting has evolved to keep pace with the changing Africa-China relationship. What began as a platform primarily focused on economic ties has expanded to encompass a broader range of issues reflecting both Chinese and African priorities.

In these two companion reports, CGSP Managing Editor Cobus van Staden provides a thorough analysis of the China-Africa relationship as it enters FOCAC 9, detailing the challenges and priorities on both sides, exploring areas of convergence and divergence, and offering insights into what to expect from this upcoming meeting.

Africa’s Priorities and Challenges at FOCAC 2024

Key insights:

- China’s evolving partnership with Africa is reshaping the continent’s infrastructure, data, and energy landscape. This relationship, punctuated by the triennial Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), is not just about bilateral ties—it’s a strategic framework influencing Africa’s global engagements. As FOCAC 2024 approaches, this report provides an African perspective on the process and priorities that will likely shape the upcoming discussions.

- Strategic Importance: FOCAC has emerged as a pivotal platform in Africa-China relations, driving not just economic collaboration but also influencing Africa’s engagement with other global powers. The forum’s outcomes set precedents that Africa can leverage in its interactions with other international partners.

- Evolving Priorities: While FOCAC began with a narrow scope that mostly dealt with the economic facet of the relationship, successive waves of negotiations between African diplomats and their Chinese counterparts have resulted in a slow expansion of the platform’s purview to include more African priorities. Heading into FOCAC 2024, Africa is focused on collaborating with China on training and technology transfer, increasing Africa’s value share in production and supply chains, and developing a sustainable and robust agricultural industry.

- African Agency: The utility of FOCAC for Africa is increasingly tied to Africa’s ability to set the agenda. Africa’s green energy potential, youthful population, and mineral resources promise a bright future, but low electrification rates and an industrialization backlog present challenges. If Africa hopes to take full advantage of the FOCAC setting, negotiators must be proactive in bringing its priorities to the table.

FOCAC 2024 is positioned to be a critical juncture in the Africa-China relationship, with the potential to drive significant advancements in trade, industrial development, and sustainable cooperation. As Africa navigates this partnership, its ability to influence the agenda will be key to achieving long-term benefits.

China’s Agenda at FOCAC 2024: Climate, Connectivity and Coalitions

Key insights:

- While some might believe that China’s engagement with Africa is primarily driven by a desire for the continent’s natural resources, in reality, the relationship is multifaceted. Africa’s 54 votes at the UN, its substantial youth demographic, and the way that Africa-China cooperation enhances China’s narrative that it is building a global community of developing countries highlight why China remains committed to Africa.

- As China navigates increasing global pressure, particularly from the U.S. and its allies, this relationship has become even more critical. The upcoming 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing will be a defining moment for both sides, shaping the trajectory of this vital partnership. This report deals with the Chinese perspective of the China-Africa relationship ahead of FOCAC in September 2024: why Africa matters to China, where the relationship currently stands, and what China’s priorities are going into this meeting.

- Economic Development: While trade expansion remains a priority, the ambitious goal set in 2021 to increase African imports to China has seen modest progress. Still, China remains committed to developing and deepening its economic ties in Africa, and the 2024 FOCAC is expected to renew commitments, with a focus on agriculture and aiding African producers in accessing Chinese markets.

- Political Alliances: Beyond economic interests, China views Africa as a key partner in its efforts to establish alternative global governance structures more in line with its own priorities and less centered around Western power. Africa’s moral weight as the heart of the Global South, and its 54 votes at the UN, make it an important partner in this quest.

- Green Energy and Industrial Development: Reflecting China’s renewable energy investments under the Belt and Road Initiative, the upcoming FOCAC will likely emphasize green energy cooperation. Additionally, China’s expertise in renewable energy positions it as a crucial partner for Africa’s electrification, supporting the continent’s broader industrial development goals.

- Global Connectivity: While FOCAC predates the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), it has emerged as a key platform for BRI engagement. The BRI has focused on boosting connectivity between China and the rest of the world. This has historically been centered on physical infrastructure but increasingly includes other forms of connectivity, like trade and regulatory integration, ICT, training, and people-to-people exchange. These themes will likely feature heavily at FOCAC 2024.

The 2024 FOCAC summit is poised to reinforce China’s role as a key partner in Africa’s development and a leader in the Global South. Amid ongoing anti-China rhetoric from the U.S., this meeting will be critical in solidifying the strategic, economic, and diplomatic ties that bind China and Africa.

China displaced the United States to become Africa’s largest trading partner in 2009, and Beijing has held tight on that position to date. Over 20 per cent of Africa’s exports now go to China while 16 per cent of the continent’s imports are sourced from the Chinese market.

2 Hong Kong journalists await verdict in their sedition trial

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Written by Super User

Category: Asia

Published: 28 August 2024

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By KANIS LEUNG

HONG KONG - Two journalists who led a now-shuttered Hong Kong online news outlet will hear a verdict in their sedition case on Thursday, in a trial that’s seen as an indicator for press freedom in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

The trial of Stand News ' former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam began almost two years ago. It’s Hong Kong’s first sedition case involving media since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

The journalists were charged with conspiracy to publish seditious materials under a colonial-era law that’s been increasingly used to target dissent as part of a crackdown that followed huge anti-government protests in 2019.

Here is what you need to know:

What was Stand News?

Stand News was one of the last remaining openly critical media outlets in Hong Kong following the shuttering of the Apple Daily newspaper in June 2021.

It was founded as a non-profit by businessman Tony Tsoi and media veterans Yu Ka-fai and Chung in December 2014, promising to uphold independent editorial standards and writing in a founding message that the responsibility of media is to keep power in check.

During the massive 2019 anti-government protests, Stand News gained prominence for its live-streaming coverage from the front lines and attracted many democracy supporters for its critical reporting against the authorities.

The city’s secretary for security Chris Tang and its police criticized the outlet, saying some of its reports were “misleading,” while Hong Kong residents surveyed by the researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong rated it among the most credible outlets in the city in 2019.

How did the journalists wind up on trial?

In 2021, Hong Kong witnessed the shutdown of dozens of civil society groups under the shadow of a Beijing-imposed national security law, with many prominent activists arrested. In June that year, authorities arrested members of Apple Daily’s top management and froze its assets. The newspaper’s founder Jimmy Lai is now fighting collusion charges and faces up to life in prison if convicted.

On Dec. 29 2021, police raided Stand News office. The same day, they arrested Chung and Lam alongside four former board members and Chung’s wife Chan Pui-Man, a former Apple Daily editor. Assets worth about 61 million Hong Kong dollars ($7.8 million) were also frozen, forcing Stand News to close down.

Of the seven people arrested, only Chung and Lam were later charged in connection to Stand News. Chan was charged in the Apple Daily case and later pleaded guilty.

What’s the bigger picture for civil liberties in Hong Kong?

Days after Stand News shut down, independent news outlet Citizen News announced it would cease operations, citing the deteriorating media environment and the potential risks to its staff.

The shuttering of Apple Daily, Stand News and Citizen News within months dealt a blow to the city’s once vibrant press scene.

The shutdowns were widely seen as the casualties during the political crackdown on the civil society. Many activists were prosecuted, silenced or forced into self-exile after the 2020 security law took effect. The Hong Kong government in March enacted a new, home-grown security law that critics fear would further curtail the city’s civil liberties.

The delivery of the verdict for the editors has been delayed several times, including once for awaiting the appeal outcome of another landmark sedition case.

Eric Lai, a research fellow at Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said the case is significant because it was the first sedition case the Hong Kong government brought against news editors and a media outlet since the 1997 handover. Lai said the British colonial government had stopped using the sedition law in its final decades.

But the Hong Kong government insists the city still enjoys these freedoms, as guaranteed by its mini-constitution, and the exercise of them may be subject to restrictions that are provided by law.

What are the journalists accused of?

The sedition law outlaws the promulgation of seditious publications, among other acts, and defines seditious intent include aiming to incite hatred or contempt against the Chinese central government, the Hong Kong government or the judiciary.

The prosecution accused Chung and Lam of conspiring to publish and reproduce seditious articles, calling Stand News a political platform.

The prosecution’s case is based on 17 articles published between July 2020 and December 2021, including stories featuring pro-democracy ex-lawmakers Nathan Law and Ted Hui, who are among a group of overseas-based activists targeted by Hong Kong police bounties and interviews with three participants in a primary election organized by the pro-democracy camp in 2020. The trio were convicted in a separate national security case.

If convicted, the defendants could face up to two years in prison and a fine of 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $640) for a first offense. They have the right to appeal against the ruling.

What happened at the trial?

The trial was initially expected to last 20 days but ran over to some 50 days.

The government lawyers said some of the articles helped promote “illegal ideologies,” as well as smearing the security law and law enforcement officers.

During the trial, Chung, who pleaded not guilty, denied that Stand News was a political platform, and stressed the importance of freedom of speech.

“Freedom of speech should not be restricted on the grounds of eradicating dangerous ideas, but rather it should be used to eradicate dangerous ideas,” he said.

Lam, who also pleaded not guilty, chose not to give testimony.

Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd., the holding company for Stand News, faces the same charge but had no representatives as the trial began in October 2022.