sean smith

When someone loves you, the way they talk about you is different. You feel safe and comfortable.

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

Requesting $TLOS (https://t.co/VP0e7ORLtT) funds from #Stakely Faucet to use on #telos #EVM - The Superfast Ethereum Virtual Machine! Request ID: WLOFTATK #privacy https://t.co/B0L46ajZko

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will arrive in China on Thursday ahead of a landmark summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah left for China on Wednesday for an official visit that will likely include a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (the Foreign Ministry has to confirm whether it will happen).

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

Fu Cong, the Chinese ambassador to the European Union in Brussels, challenged the widely-held perception in Brussels and other Western capitals that the Belt and Road Initiative aims to undermine U.S. and European influence around the world.

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

Russian flags have become a regular sight among supporters of military juntas that have thrown governments across West Africa this year -- but never a Chinese flag, until now. The flag mysteriously appeared last week at a protest in the Nigerien capital Niamey.…

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

"This point has been made before and is usually framed as 'the BRI is over.' What the new
research shows, however, is that lending is continuing, albeit at a smaller scale..." -

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

A new report from uses the latest data from their Chinese Loans to Africa (CLA) database to provide a state of play of Chinese loans to Africa and identify key trends:

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

From 2000-2022, countries in Southern Africa and East Africa historically borrowed the most from China primarily due to large-scale loans in Angola, Zambia, South Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya.

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met with his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang on Sunday on the sides of the 20th China-ASEAN Expo in the Chinese city of Nanning. They addressed the sensitive issue of competing territorial claims in the South China Sea.

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

"China sees itself as the leader of the Global South and seeks to co-opt the BRICS into its sphere of influence. In particular, Beijing wants to tap into developing countries’ grievances regarding current international institutions and global governance" -- …

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

Saudi Arabia is preparing to increase oil shipments to China in 2024 to meet growing demand from a crop of new refineries that will come online next year, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

Few people have been as enthusiastic about the announcement of an ambitious proposed trade corridor linking India and Greece via Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, and Israel as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

Cambodia’s new Prime Minister, Hun Manet, visited China for two days from Thursday, one of his first official overseas visits since taking over from his father, Hun Sen. He will meet with China’s President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

China did its very best to downplay President Xi Jinping's absence from the G20 leaders summit in New Delhi last weekend, sending novice diplomat Premier Li Qiang in his place.

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

The Chinese Communist Party is not impressed with the "historic" announcement made at the G20 summit in New Delhi last week Saturday that aims to build a vast multi-modal transportation corridor linking India to Europe via the Middle East.

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

U.S. President Joe Biden pushed back against the accusation that newly-elevated diplomatic ties with Vietnam are part of a larger effort to "contain China" or start a new "Cold War."

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

Sanctioned by the West, Zimbabwe’s economy has taken a beating for more than 2 decades, however, some Chinese firms have stuck it out and become favorites winning contracts for big-ticket projects. Chinese state-owned company Sinohydro is one such company.

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

Zambia's creditor committee finally reached an agreement to restructure $6.3 billion of bilateral external debt. The deal marks a significant victory for China which had strenuously resisted calls to cancel or write off some of the debt.

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

"If, by visiting Beijing, he [Netanyahu] can gain legitimacy at home, get the U.S. to invite him to Washington and make some progress with the Saudis his trip would be a great success." --

[sean smith @SeanSeansmi]

Investors welcomed the news of Zambia's debt restructuring deal. However, until they see the full details of what was agreed to in Paris, there's still considerable concern about China's role in the process.