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Panelist William Gumede asked the following PostGlobal question: Does China's willingness to invest in Africa without preconditions cause more harm than good? In the end, could Africa be re-colonized by China? Here is the answer of Dr. Iweala, the former Finance Minister of Nigeria and our new panelist:
By Susan L. Shirk
China’s Premier Wen Jiabao travels to Japan this week in what he is calling an “ice melting” visit, the first by a senior Chinese leader since 2000.
By Wang Feng
I awoke this morning to the headline in the Chinese newspapers: “China bans diethylene glycol in toothpaste.” My first reaction: Finally, the bureaucrats have given in to international pressure. It seems China can use all the international humiliation it can get.
By Kyoko Altman
It’s not about who leads China. Whether the top man is Hu Jintao , Li Keqiang or Xi Jinping makes little difference. As long as China chooses leaders through an ossified, secretive process that draws on candidates from a small pool of like-minded elites, all from the same party, it will only face more of the same.
By Kyoko Altman
It’s not about who leads China. Whether the top man is Hu Jintao , Li Keqiang or Xi Jinping makes little difference. As long as China chooses leaders through an ossified, secretive process that draws on candidates from a small pool of like-minded elites, all from the same party, it will only face more of the same.
By Firas Ahmad
Less than ten years ago, Malaysia’s former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was languishing in prison, suffering from arsenic poisoning surreptitiously introduced into his drinking water. Ibrahim was sacked after challenging the rule of then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed. Jailed on what he claimed to be politically motivated charges of sodomy and corruption, not only was Ibrahim’s political career apparently over, but his life was in danger. Only after his family secretly smuggled blood samples out of the country to confirm the poisoning were steps taken to ensure his health.
Fast forward to March 8, 2008. Even though he remains unable to stand for election until April of 2008 due to his previous incarceration, the Ibrahim-led opposition coalition dealt a stunning blow to the ruling Barisan National (BN) Party, breaking its decades-old super majority control of parliament. To call it a “comeback” would be an understatement. While the BN continues to hold a simple majority, a tectonic shift has taken place in Malaysian politics, and it was in many ways engineered by Anwar Ibrahim. The victory means a new political future for the world’s most economically advanced Muslim country, ushering in new chapter in Muslim democracy.
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