(February 15, 2010) Despite a number of concerns, China’s involvement in Africa is welcome for a variety of psychological and pragmatic reasons.
Chopsticks mercantilism: China’s involvement in Africa
(February 15, 2010) China’s engagement with Africa should be a boon. Its overall trade with Africa rose from $10.6 billion in 2000 to $75.5 billion in 2008, propelling Africa’s growth rate to 5.8% in 2008, its best performance since 1974. China is now Africa’s second-largest trading partner after the United States, importing a third of its crude oil from Africa…But China’s engagement is increasingly being seen as odious, predatory and brutish. The initial enthusiasm that greeted Chinese investments in Africa has now cooled.
An interview with the man who sued China’s Ministry of Finance to safeguard Chinese citizens’ right to know
(February 12, 2010) Tired of paying into a fund for the construction of Three Gorges dam without knowing how the money was being spent, Ren Xinghui took matters into his own hands.
Researcher sues ministry over special utility fee
(January 29, 2010) A Beijing man is taking the Ministry of Finance to court after the agency refused to explain to him how they spend the extra fee tacked on to the electricity bills of nearly every household in the country.
Silencing scrutiny: Chinese government jails another activist
(February 9, 2010) Chinese activist Tan Zuoren has been sentenced to five years in jail for subversion. The environmentalist was arrested last March after he began investigating the deaths of thousands of children who were crushed when their schools collapsed on them in the May 2008 earthquake in Sichuan.
Activists argue that “dams will kill the mighty Mekong”
(February 9, 2010) Losses in aquaculture and farm production could easily outstrip any profit from power generation if planned Mekong River dams are built in China, Laos and Cambodia, says a Can Tho University professor.
The relationship between large reservoirs and seismicity
(February 8, 2010) Following the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China, Chen Houqun, Xu Zeping and Li Ming discuss the question of whether large reservoirs can trigger strong earthquakes.
IPCC faces another desertion – its own past chair
(February 6, 2010) The past chairman of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has joined the growing list of IPCC critics. According to the Sunday Telegraph, Rajendra Pachauri, the disgraced current IPCC chair, now faces criticism from his immediate predecessor, Robert Watson.
An ordinary citizen probes Three Gorges Dam finances
(February 6, 2010) On January 26, Ren Xinghui, a young Beijing resident, decided to stand up against China’s Ministry of Finance. Why? Because his request that income and expenditures for the Three Gorges dam project be made public in accord with China’s National Ordinance on Government Information Release was rejected by the Ministry.
The joy of doing business In Africa: How corrupt Senegalese politicians tried to shake down Millicom for $200 million
(February 5, 2010) Corruption in Senegal is more than a risk to private investors like Millicom, it’s a risk to taxpayers, too. More than half a billion dollars in U.S. development assistance is going to Senegal over the next five years on the assumption of good governance.
African graft fight blocked by continent’s Capones
(February 5, 2010) Africa’s fight against corruption is being blocked by gangsters at every level of administrations and the campaign is doomed to fail unless presidents themselves spearhead the battle, a top campaigner said.
Ethiopia prepares case for megahydropower project funding
(February 5, 2010) The Ethiopian government is preparing its case to attempt to convince the World Bank to fund a mega-hydropower project in the Horn of Africa country.
Dams trigger stronger storms, study suggests
(February 4, 2010) Researchers are sounding the alarm that dams—along with their reservoirs—might also trigger more frequent fierce storms that could be the dams’ undoing.
The South-North Water Diversion project: in the Chinese government’s own words
(February 3, 2010) After years of delays and setbacks, construction on the South North Water Diversion project is now moving forward at “full capacity.” According to an official from the State Council, in 2010 alone, the government plans to invest a record 48 billion yuan ($7.02 billion) in the massive water project.
Afghanistan and dead aid: is it becoming a reality?
(February 2, 2010) In a recent piece for Foreign Policy, Gerard Russell, a former British and U.N. diplomat and now a Fellow of Harvard’s Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy, looks at the disturbing effect foreign aid is having on Afghanistan. With over half of the country’s licit economy supplied by foreigners, Russell says—referencing Dambisa Moyo’s book "Dead Aid all too often "foreign aid undermines society, encourages rentier behaviour, siphons off talent, reduces pressure for reform, and undermines democracy. Does this sound familiar, Afghanistan-watchers?
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