February 25, 2021

Rich nations' act to stockpile excess vaccine is untenable and inexcusable

By: Azhar Azam

Just 10 countries have administered 75 percent of all coronavirus vaccinations worldwide at a time when more than 130 nations are yet to receive a single jab. Three of the wealthiest G7 states – Canada, the UK and the U.S. – shockingly have secured enough doses to inoculate their population up to five times over.

After most of world's vaccine supply is stockpiled mostly by the elite club of rich nations, commitment to donate surplus doses once all Brits or most Americans are vaccinated as well as earmarking a paltry 4-5 percent to poor countries is a sheer selfish gesture, akin to taking the mickey out of the developing world.

Last November, India and South Africa floated an idea at the World Trade Organization for temporary suspension of intellectual rights, allowing poor countries to produce their own vaccine. But mature economies quickly ganged up, strongly opposed and finally blocked the proposal, exposing Western protectionist mindset toward the developing world and their so-called support for global equality.

In the middle of "wildly uneven and unfair" distribution and at the moment when Western countries had snapped up large quantities of the vaccine, Beijing kept its promise and announced a plan to dispatch 10 million doses to poor nations through the World Health Organization's COVAX initiative so that they do not fall behind due to dearth of vaccine.

Some have been casting doubts on the safety and efficacy of China's vaccine. Since at least eight heads of states have so far publicly received Chinese vaccine jabs and 43 million shots of Sinopharm are now administered, this dismal campaign needs to cease and focus should be given on showing solidarity against the pandemic and making sure global equality in vaccine distribution.

Beijing is actively participating in COVAX that aims to bring together 190 low- and high-income economies by delivering 2 billion COVID-19 doses on an equitable basis through 2021. With the facility saying vaccine delivery would not be started before March, it is critical that rich countries also back the global mechanism and release the trove of vials to assist it achieve the goal of vaccinating 20 percent of the worldwide poor headcount by the end of this year.

Recently, the anti-poverty group ONE Campaign warned the virus won't wait on us to be ready before it mutates. Noting that superfluous doses purchased by affluent countries alone would be sufficient to vaccinate the entire adult population of Africa, the non-partisan organization said, "This huge vaccine excess is the embodiment of vaccine nationalism, with countries prioritizing their own vaccination needs at the expense of other countries and the global recovery."

The apathetic approach to stash vaccines in warehouses from rich nations is untenable and inexcusable because as long as virus is uncontrolled around the world, it would cross borders to potentially double the global deaths and cost up to $9.2 trillion to the global economy, a nightmare situation that could be prevented by providing vaccine to developing nations.

Serbia is one good example of how a Balkan state is quickly vaccinating its population, at a rate twice than that of any country in the European Union, with Chinese help. As Belgrade has already been seeing Chinese investment pouring into the country to build bridges, roads, rail lines, steel mills and surveillance technology – when no one wanted to deliver anything – the argument Beijing was using "vaccine diplomacy" should fade away.

Unlike its Western counterparts that have monopolized the global vaccine market and are reluctant to manufacture it on a domestic level, Chinese companies are willing to strike licensing deals with other countries to produce vaccines locally. The gallant move to concede profit and share expertise should be embraced globally to preclude the risk of yet another health and economic crisis.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has successfully vaccinated millions of people, more than per capita shots in many countries, using the Sinopharm vaccine. With Western companies balking to transfer technology, the Chinese vaccine manufacturer offered full-scale transfer of tech, skills and the opportunity for the UAE to produce vaccines for regional distribution.

Even though Chinese efforts to produce and deliver vaccine would help neutralize the impact of stockpiling life-saving vials, the mature economies still need to change their inhuman attitude toward poor nations and should immediately pledge substantial jabs to the COVAX besides ensuring affordable and accessible vaccine for underdeveloped and conflict-ridden territories.

The new forecast from the Economist Intelligence Unit sketched a starkly divided world, in which the developed and a slew of middle-income nations may achieve "widespread vaccine coverage" within this year or the next. In comparison, more than 85 poor countries won't be able to immunize their people on a large scale until 2023 – or even by 2024 – including large parts of Africa and some countries in Asia and Latin America, according to some experts.

With new variants threatening to spread across the planet and the virus continuing to wreak havoc on communities and the global economy, resource-rich countries cannot sit on the sidelines and must strengthen the global fight against the pandemic by releasing the hoarded vaccines for the developing world. The COVID-19 is a common enemy and can be defeated through equality in vaccine distribution, collective wisdom and international unity.

*This is one of my opinion pieces that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":

US facing 5G conundrum


Former Google boss Eric Schmidt, now serving on the US Defense Department’s innovation board, in a blistering opinion piece for Financial Times, derided last month’s record breaking 5G spectrum auction of about $81 billion by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and called it a “digital setback” for the country’s technology future.

Affronting celebrations of 107 Auction that issued 280MHz in C-band spectrum for 5G, Chairman of the US National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) warned investing in 5G mobile telecommunications networks should be America’s “urgent priority” to catch up with China, which is “already far ahead.”

More than two decades earlier, 3G auctions in Europe ruined the European operators after they collectively spent $129 billion on buying licenses for third-generation networks. The excessive payments triggered crushing debt burden on the companies, eventually bankrupting a few and sapping research spending.

Schmidt drew parallel between the FCC and European 3G auctions and alarmed higher price and weak digital services as a result of “over the odds” payments could push the country toward “lost digital decade,” Europe was yet to recover from while China would soon have a national network with speeds of 1 gigabit a second.

His worries aren’t unfounded. Even though auction transferred big bucks to the US coffers, massive capital outflows from the sector would stall deployment of 5G in the country since the US telcos would have $81 billion less to spend on 5G infrastructure, probably leading into “disinvestment and downsizing."

The US is likely to fall behind China in fifth-generation technology as auction lacked provision to build crucial digital infrastructure and also because a true 5G network required more than 280MHz spectrum, as said Schmidt. What’s more, industry will inevitably shift this huge cost to American 5G users, which would further complicate 5G deployment.

With China’s head start, Schmidt continued, the next generation of technology giants — and the products and services they build — are not going to be European or American but Chinese. Estimating that a C-band network covering 80% of Americans will require one million new cell sites and $70 billion, he said “there will be no 5G and no base on which to build 6G. America’s digital economy will become an also-ran.”

AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are the big three US wireless companies that are in the process of building out 5G networks in the US. Whereas stocks of the first two, dominating American industry, have been chronic long-term underperformers – former US President Donald Trump’s ban of Chinese companies caused 5G rollout delays as domestic service providers were busy in finding replacements and arranging funds for expensive substitutes.

The analysts estimate C-band auction would cost three companies between $10 billion to $35 billion each. The staggering outlays will ironically limit the ability of cash-strapped operators to deploy equipment quickly, which Nokia head of sales in North America Ed Cholerton says would put the US at disadvantage to China and others who do not seek to pad their treasury with license fees.

Beijing, in the meantime, continues to make a mark in 5G. China is not only leading the US in fifth-generation technology, it has outsmarted America with more 5G subscribers not just in total but per capita , more 5G smartphone sales at lower prices and more widespread 5G coverage with faster connections than the US. In a year or so, China had built more than 700,000 5G base stations – surpassing the original target of half a million with over twice the number of base stations outside the country – against the US expected to have merely 50,000 base stations at the close of 2020.

American companies have been building nationwide 5G networks but they are only incrementally faster than 4G or super-limited and face jurisdiction issues. As compared, China has installed thousands of large cell towers and tens of thousands small cell antennas in local communities and cities for 5G service delivery. While the US is in the process of clearing its 280MHz spectrum, China is projected to assign on the average of 660MHz spectrum by the end of 2022.

Hailing China’s rapid 5G deployments was advancing domestic economic development and industrial transformation as well as boosting development of the global industrial chain – Qualcomm China Chairman Frank Meng said mobile communication and semiconductor were two of the most globalized industries and his company wanted to strengthen cooperation with its Chinese partners.

Trump singled out China’s technology companies in an effort to stop Chinese 5G growth and global expansion irrespective of his acts could hobble the worldwide 5G global supply chain, slow down deployment in the US and possibly shatter the market. But in the end, tech experts are seeing the auction as “the penultimate nail in the coffin of US global technology leadership.”

Schmidt last year sought White House to figure out a right strategy for the China-US relationship, what he called a “rivalry partnership” to collaborate and compete with each other without inciting tension or inviting retaliation. While Biden is keen to cooperate with Beijing on climate change and North Korea, he needs to add 5G to his wish-list as well to fix Washington’s fifth-generation conundrum.

*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared in "New Straits Times":

February 23, 2021

The UK faces unprecedented economic challenges


For the first time since 1709 when a cold spell, the Great Frost, wrecked an agricultural economy then - the British economy contracted by 9.9 percent last year. The service sector, mainstay of the UK economy that accounts for about 80 percent of its output, manufacturing and construction all fell sharply during 2020.

A rebound in growth during the fourth quarter of 2020 initially offered hope for the UK economic recovery, but a third lockdown in mid-December again sent the economy in jeopardy, marking the biggest drop in more than 300 years, roughly twice the figure at the peak of the financial crisis in 2009.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the UK's top treasury official, said the serious shock was felt by countries around the world, but the extent of disruption to British economy was enormous since the impact of COVID-19 on other industrialized economies was relatively minor: such as France - 8.3 percent, Germany - 5 percent and the U.S. - 3.5 percent.

The vaccine drive, backed by "pent-up financial energy," is expected to help Britain overcome the disease and lift restrictions to boost spending. Nevertheless, the worst death toll in Europe, intense economic crisis and a deadlier COVID-19 variant warn there is still a lot more damage to be done to the economy, making the UK one of the last developed economies to reach the pre-pandemic levels.

Just recently, the International Monetary Fund downgraded its forecast for the UK by 1.4 percentage points to 4.5 percent for 2021. Following almost a double-digit drop last year, revised growth prediction may be too little to cope with the grave economic challenges the British government is facing.

Even before the pandemic, the UK economy wasn't presenting a rosy outlook. In the last three months of 2019, the economy recorded zero growth with manufacturing shriveled for the third consecutive quarter and the service sector slowed down. The trade deficit in goods and services also remained high.

Experts believed the UK economic output suffered more severely as compared to peers because of its over-reliance on consumer spending, shedding light on its need for diversification in the economy.

By laying hopes that the end of restrictions would trigger a rapid recovery later this year, the country's officials seem to have given up taking measures to rescue people and the economy, hoping some miracle would straighten things out for them.

Brexit will further compound economic challenges for the Boris Johnson government. A latest forecast by the European Commission said that the economic blow of the deal will be more than four times greater in the UK as compared to the European Union. The Johnson government is redoubling efforts to negotiate trade agreements with other nations and regions in a post-Brexit era.

Earlier this month, Britain formally requested to join the 11-nation member bloc, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), to open new avenues to boost its trade and expand influence in Asia-Pacific. But as the UK already has trade deals with several of those member countries, British move to join the club was seen as "constrain(ing) the rise of China."

While China overtook the U.S. as the largest trading partner of the EU with two-way trade of $709 billion by stoking demand for European cars and luxury goods in the country on the back of its economic growth – the Chinese market could be crucial for the UK to increase exports.

Improved ties with China would rebalance and diversify the UK economy that has an almost depleted manufacturing base. London historically maintained a growth rate of below one percent, which isn't sufficient to counter the impact of the pandemics like COVID-19. So, the British government has to invest in manufacturing and enhance trade with other countries such as China.

The economic relationship between Beijing and London dates back two decades and reached its peak in 2015 under Prime Minister David Cameron when Chancellor George Osborne visited China and said Britain "can't run away from China" and should be "doing more business" and become "better connected" with the Chinese economy.

Although the "golden era" cooperation has been dying away over the UK's withdrawal from its consistent position over China's sovereign issues, trade ties continue to strengthen. In 2019, China was the sixth-largest export market and fourth-largest import source for UK products – up from 26th and 15th in 1999 respectively.

However, the UK's volte-face – from being China's advocate in Europe to rooting out Huawei from national telecommunications network entirely from 2027, screening out Chinese investment from 17 British industries, attempting to link any potential trade deal with China over human rights issues as well as revocation of CGTN's license – has hindered any mutually beneficial reconciliation process.

The UK must bear in mind that heightened tensions and strained relations between two of the leading global economies would prompt uncertainty in the global markets and be more perilous for Britain's plummeting economy, which has been witnessing sluggish productivity and mounting public debt in the post-coronavirus and post-Brexit era.

London's commitment to supporting multilateralism and the global trading system cannot be trusted unless it strictly follows rules-based international order and stops interfering in China's internal affairs. Besides, the UK isn't in a position to dictate its terms on trade deals with other countries either.

Nothing else suits the UK except to rise above from cynicism about China and seek support from the second-largest economy in the world. Chafing the relationship with Beijing to placate some countries is a bad strategy and would eventually make Britain a loser in international trade.

*This is one of my opinion pieces that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":

February 12, 2021

Biden needs to directly engage China to resolve bilateral disputes

By: Azhar Azam

Before their appointment as an Indo-Pacific coordinator and China director at the National Security Council by U.S. President Joe Biden respectively, Kurt Campbell and Rush Doshi, in a co-authored article for Foreign Affairs, admitted buy-in from China had played a vital role in region's success and it will remain important in the years to come.

In a year of devastation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, China imported 6.6 percent more goods from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations whereas its purchases from Japan and Republic of Korea (ROK) were stable. The increased Chinese imports would set the launch pad for a further strengthened bilateral trade relationship between Beijing and regional countries.

Soliciting Washington to work on advancing balance of power and a legitimate regional order, Campbell and Doshi argued the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy should be based on "an allied and partner coalition to address China's challenge to both." In a veiled reference to the U.S. belief it can mold China through "power and hegemony" to its liking, they urged America should leave its hegemonic attitude and "nineteenth-century spheres of influence."

However the regional order, their plan to contain China may encounter some barriers. First, America has frayed or rusted alliances with countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines, making the former difficult to build a united front against China. Second, an increasing number of countries there have shown tendency to cooperate instead of confronting Beijing.

They proposed the U.S. might focus on military deterrence by expanding the Quad. But as members of the four-nation group have diverse economic and geopolitical interests and "historical vulnerabilities" – the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, with Japan and ROK to benefit the most, additionally complicates the plan to check China's growth and influence in the Asia Pacific by developing a "mini NATO."

Even the two diplomats in the Biden administration are convinced that collectively designing penalties "if China decides to take steps that threaten the large order" won't work as Beijing's strength increases, while military and material balance alone will not guarantee a "renewed regional order."

Biden's picks for the Pacific and China touted that preservation of the system's balance and legitimacy would therefore require strong coalitions of both allies and partners and "a degree of acquiescence and acceptance" from Beijing. Before China's assent to the U.S. unilateral approach, America would need to reclaim its credibility after Trump ripped off the trust of regional nations by renegotiating cost-sharing agreements and cancelling the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

While the European Union has been cold shouldering Biden's unified transatlantic approach by completing investment agreement negotiations with China, the U.S. should directly engage Beijing for restoration of bilateral diplomatic and trade relations between the two leading economies rather than pursuing "bespoke or ad hoc bodies" or expanding the Quad against China.

Over the last four years, the most crucial bilateral relationship in the world has been ruffled by Trump's brash China policy that indiscriminately targeted Chinese companies, diplomats, journalists, students and scholars. His Cold War mentality and ideological bias was fueled by some of the other China hawks in his administration.

Calling for a reset in China-U.S. ties, the U.S. experts have called on the Biden administration to take up the opportunity to bring the relationship back on track, disagreeing that Beijing wants to overthrow the established international economic order and emphasizing both countries have much to gain from their economic interdependence.

Dr. David Russell, former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs under the Obama administration saw Biden as a "last minute reprieve" for America-China ties. Warning the U.S. cannot "afford to mishandle or waste the opportunity," he pressed both sides to deal with fundamental disagreements other than cooperation on public health issues, climate change and counter-proliferation.

A direct engagement with Beijing and the expanded scope of cooperation between China and the U.S. – while finding common ground for mutual interests, instead of building an artificial alliance in Asia Pacific or other parts of the world – could bring stability in the bilateral relationship and would contribute to peace in the region and reduce risk of a much less stable world.

China has established itself as a great international power by adapting to the market-driven global economy. Beijing is so deeply integrated into the world trading system due to the enormous buying capacity that any break in Chinese growth would drastically slice global exports, close factories, trigger dearth of employment and jolt the international financial markets.

Last week, the U.S. Secretary of State said "the most important [China-U.S.] relationship" has some competitive and cooperative aspects. As he favored cooperation with China on climate change and other shared concerns, it is in the interest of the U.S. that the competition between the two superpowers does not evolve into outright conflict.

Beijing's significance in the global economy, America's domestic challenges and the common international threats require China and the U.S. to enter in a frank and open dialogue with each other.

Biden vows to confront China but lacks enough strength – "much of which has been lost" – to compete with Beijing. Although the U.S. president called China the "most serious competitor" and pledged to give it an "extreme competition," he is willing to work with China and doesn't want the new relationship to be plagued with conflict.

The trash of Trump's truculent term cannot be laundered quickly. It may perhaps eat up Biden's whole tenure to rebuild the U.S. at home and regain American credibility and moral authority internationally, given the U.S. president learns from the past and takes the right move at the right time.

As the prior administration's strategy to exploit the Quad and use the Asia Pacific against China produced unintended consequences for the U.S., Biden should return to traditional diplomacy and engage China directly to resolve bilateral disputes.

*This is one of my opinion pieces that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":

February 9, 2021

Biden may make his Pacific strategy through cooperation with China

By: Azhar Azam

Joe Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and his pick for the "Indo-Pacific" affairs Kurt Campbell advised in the article "Competition Without Catastrophe" in the September/October 2019 issue of the Foreign Affairs magazine that the U.S. should establish favorable terms of coexistence with China in four key competitive domains – military, economic, political and global governance – which "offers best chance to protect U.S. interests and prevent inevitable tension from turning into outright confrontation," especially in the "Indo-Pacific".

Noting that China is a peer competitor with a more formidable economy, more sophisticated diplomacy and more flexible ideology than the Soviet Union ever was – they championed cooperation between Beijing and Washington and described China as "an essential U.S. partner" on climate change and transnational challenges such as economic crises, nuclear proliferation and global pandemics.

During his election campaign, Biden has made a guarded position on "free and open Indo-Pacific," a term reinvented by Donald Trump to band together American allies for China's containment. After the election, Biden rephrased the term as "secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific," signaling a possible reset of ties with China and desire to engage Beijing for a peaceful and thriving Asia Pacific.

In 2018, Sullivan had proposed the same approach to the Trump administration, arguing the U.S. "has to lead in crafting the institutions, alliances, partnerships and rules that can make the Asia-Pacific region more secure, more prosperous and more stable." Ruling out the likelihood of Thucydides Trap – a loggerheads situation often results in a war – he believed conflict between China and the U.S. wasn't "inevitable" and two superpowers could start from the premise of cooperation on shared interests, particularly in the economic realm.

China has over and over again assured it is not interested in deposing the U.S. as a dominant global power and remains opposed to a confrontation in the Asia Pacific. Every year, more than 100,000 ships sail through the South China Sea without being threatened, until some external actors flex muscles to disrupt regional peace and stability. The act of provocation hasn't died down yet as the U.S. continues to incite China in the name of promoting the so-called "freedom of the seas".

The new U.S. administration needs to hold fast to its commitment of peace and prosperity in Asia Pacific. It can do so by overturning Trump's combative legacy and making joint efforts to defuse the tensions in strategic waterways. The frequent U.S. violations do not contribute to the region's stability whereas its "rock-solid" support for China's Taiwan could be another bottleneck to calm things down.

Biden's advent to the White House finished off Trump's invidious term. After Biden announced to rejoin the World Health Organization and the Paris Agreement in a pivot to regain the lost U.S. global leadership, Beijing welcomed Washington's return and hoped for the revival of China-U.S. ties that have plunged to nadir under the former U.S. president.

Last week, China again struck a reconciliatory tone and called for greater cooperation on common interests between world's largest economies to better bilateral relations for global prosperity and stability. The Chinese good beat unleashes an opportunity for the Biden administration to translate its idea of coexistence with China by mulling over the ways that can reduce threats of conflicts in the South China Sea and bring peace and prosperity in Asia Pacific.

The possibility of a China-U.S. dialogue, as revealed by World Economic Forum President Borge Brende, if occurred, at the group's Singapore summit in May could perk up hopes to put aside differences. The talks would further allow China and the U.S. to contrive an inoffensive environment in a region where Biden's aides once didn't write off coexistence by both militaries as impossible, urging the U.S. to accept that military primacy would be difficult to restore given Chinese weaponry reach.

Even though Campbell recently opined the U.S. should engage some Pacific nations economically and diplomatically to acquire greater regional role and empower states "in the face of China's growing clout" – he admitted they realize it was "neither practical nor profitable" for them to exclude Beijing. Such an effort might not work since China's economic prowess to emerge as a winner in the post-pandemic world would help strengthen Asia Pacific trade integration through Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Underpinned by Trump's hawkish policy, the U.S. is still embroiled in economic and health crises. With mounting domestic challenges, including growing social unrest and racism, confrontation is the last thing America can afford. Fighting disease, providing relief to millions of jobless Americans and hundreds of thousands of closed businesses, tackling climate change and advancing racial inequity are rightly Biden's priority so should remain his focus areas.

Southeast Asia, an economy worth $3 trillion, sitting strategically at the heart of the Asia Pacific, has been deeply concerned with China-U.S. strategic competition, ranking it as the greatest geopolitical challenge. With the Pacific nations not wanting to choose between the two great powers, Biden's furtherance of Trump's divisive strategy won't get a free pass in the region.

Asia Pacific is set to recover from COVID-19 faster than other parts of the world and accumulate economic benefits via free trade agreements. By signing the RCEP "that will set trade and investment standards in Asia for a generation," the Pacific nations have secured their interests with Beijing, rejecting Trump's assertiveness to confront China for the U.S. primacy.

Before unveiling his Asia Pacific strategy, Biden should review the U.S.'s historic shaky commitment and credibility to the region that kept America outside of Asia's two major free pacts. The intra-regional consensus to boost trade demands a cool head from the new U.S. administration and expects to implement its proposed vision of coexistence and cooperation with China for "a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific".

*This is one of my opinion pieces that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":

Africa's friendship for China goes beyond economic and development cooperation

By: Azhar Azam

The Africa-China cooperation is described as a relationship between two partners in which Africa wants to gain from China's development model and circumvent western pressure, to make political and economic reforms such as infamous structural adjustment, through Chinese soft lending and unconditional access to expertise.

China is a most reliable African ally and perhaps the only major economy never intended to colonize the continent. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in September 2018 defended Chinese involvement and refuted the western view that a new colonialism was taking hold in Africa.

The pandemic was expected to threaten the 30-plus year tradition during which every Chinese foreign minister kicked off the New Year from his visit to Africa but the virus couldn't affect the unshakable friendship as Wang Yi successfully completed his first overseas tour in 2021 to Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Botswana, Tanzania and Seychelles.

Since the first triennial FOCAC summit, two sides have closely worked together and delivered more than 70 percent outcomes on all eight major initiatives including industrial promotion, infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation, green development, capacity building, healthcare, people-to-people exchange and peace and security.

In the throes of global pandemic, Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is maintaining its momentum as more than 1,100 cooperation projects are going on seamlessly in Africa with about 100,000 Chinese technicians and engineers constantly giving their valuable contributions to improve the economic and social well-being of African communities.

The world's second-largest economy hasn't dithered to extend its steadfast support to help Africa mitigate a hard set of economic, infrastructure, poverty and security challenges. In addition to this, the association between the two ancient civilizations is so comprehensive and deep that every new concept only reinvigorates the already strengthened bilateral ties.

Besides opening a number of Confucius Institutes and establishing 150 pairs of sister cities in Africa to enhance the people-to-people ties, China has funded construction of soccer stadiums and government buildings in at least eight African countries to promote sporting and cultural activities and enrich African's cultural life.

While progress on wide-reaching, public-oriented and eco-friendly projects will spread infrastructure networks, uplift trade, alleviate environmental risks and encourage more locally based industrial operations – Chinese efforts to engage African people in artistic and recreational events would buff up their hidden creative potential and add another dimension to reinvigorate an ever-growing relationship.

Between 2013 and 2018, the proportion of Chinese aid to Africa had increased to 47 percent from 36 percent in 2010-12. David Shinn, a professor at Elliot's School of International Affairs at George Washington University, reckoned that Africa is now receiving $3.3 billion a year from China on account of foreign aid as compared to $2.5 billion previously.

The robust increase in foreign aid reflected China was regularly sharing the achievements of its economic growth and benefits of transition from low- to middle-income group with African people. It also reaffirmed that the long geographical distance could not restrict the intimate connection from transcending to the micro levels.

Out of some 42 countries that have started rolling out coronavirus vaccines, no one is from low-income states. As rich nations have taken complete control of the entire vaccine supply chain, billions of high-risk people in the developing world, with almost the entire Africa comprising over 50 nations, could be left out until next year.

Amid selfish gestures of wealthy countries to hoard vaccines for their citizens, China is building a COVID-19 vaccine delivery conduit to immunize Africa with a cold-chain air bridge from Shenzhen to a logistical hub in Addis Ababa with manufacturing capabilities in Egypt and Morocco. The big courtesy will win over African hearts and further elevate China's standing in the continent.

Western media casts doubts on a promise made by China to provide vaccines to Africa on priority basis. The biased approach would take a dive as Egypt has already obtained the first batch of China's Sinopharm vaccine on December 10 and Morocco received it on January 27 after Moroccan authorities found the Chinese vaccine complied with "international standards of quality and health safety."

The seven consensuses Abuja and Beijing reached seven consensuses during Wang's visit to Africa will promote bilateral cooperation on green and digital economy apart from accelerating Nigerian industrialization and improving independent development capabilities under BRI framework. The adoption of technology and clean economic expansion will reduce unemployment and poverty – key drivers fueling cultism, farming conflicts, kidnapping, banditry and violent extremism in Nigeria.

Green environmental protection, Blue Ocean and tourism are the three key areas China is willing to enhance collaboration with Seychelles. Beijing's support to cope with climate change, pledge to encourage Chinese tourists to visit the small African island and cooperation in the fields of seafood farming, maritime scientific research and shipping transportation will diversify the heavily tourism-reliant economy.

On debt relief, China has signed debt service suspension agreements with 12 African countries and waived off the matured interest-free loans for 15 continental nations through the G-20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative. While Beijing looks to widen the scope to other African countries to ease their debt crisis, the signing-up of the DRC and Botswana as 45th and 46th BRI partners will allow them to become part of a great clean-and-green development and modernization process.

The bottom line is that it's not just Chinese financing, infrastructure development, trade boosting and industrialization efforts, which have charmed and fascinated the African governments and people to fall in love with China. Beijing has earned this honor through its understanding of Africa's priorities, respect for African culture, care of the continent's environment and people's health and decades of untiring unwavering support for the continent.

*This is one of my opinion pieces that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":

February 4, 2021

US needs a gutsy Biden now

By: Azhar Azam

For years, the US has been on a wild goose chase, searching and neutralizing external threats to its national security through endless overseas military aggression. In the meantime, the country continued to divide on social issues, race, gender and economy.

Donald Trump’s deeply flawed domestic and foreign policies, willful promotion of hatred and grandiloquent tone and diatribes towards his political opponents quietly mined further divisions and pushed American society toward radicalization and political bigotry.

In a lead-up to the first US presidential debate, Trump questioned Biden’s mental and physical health and labeled his counterpart as a “dumb guy.” His despicable moral empathy urged him to lampoon the rival Democrat nominee a senile aging man and “Sleepy Joe,” ignoring his own slow and halting descent down a ramp.

His vilification widened splits in American society as during his term, an increasingly stark disagreements between Democrats and Republicans on economy, racial justice, climate change, law enforcement, international engagement and a range of other issues had intensified from just politics and policies to differences on core American values or concerns that other’s win would lead to “lasting harm” to the US.

After the former WWE star failed to upset Biden psychologically, influence voters and leap forward in a messy environment – he provoked his supporters to invade the Capitol Hill and pose risks to the US national security, normally attributed to transnational terrorist groups the US administrations claimed were located elsewhere the world.

Siege of the Congress was a little reflection of what Trump has sowed in the last four years and Jacob Chansley – Arizonian QAnon conspiracy theorist, famously photographed wearing horns with former Vice President Mike Pence in the chamber of the US Senate – is only one of Trump’s new hostile breed who was involved in a “violent insurrection that attempted to overthrow the United States government.”

Even though the top federal prosecutor in Arizona overseeing the far-reaching probe retreated from his team’s initial ominous assessment that the Trump-backed horde of rioters intended “to capture and assassinate elected officials” – Biden, upon assuming office, must order an inquiry to identify shortcomings in the US homeland security and why law enforcement agencies could not prevent this shocking episode from happening.

With the raid describing an overwhelming influence and extensive reach of QAnon activists to the US Congress during Trump’s presidency, the Biden administration also needs to take steps to immediately stop and gradually reverse this nasty trend from profounder penetration and polarization of American society, which may spark civil unrest in the US.

The QAnon movement views Trump as its hero and believes he is waging a secret war against elite- Satan-worshiping pedophiles in government, business and media, speculating their fight will culminate in the arrest and execution of prominent people including former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. He hasn’t concealed his support for the QAnon activists and extolled them as “people who love our country.”

No clique of rioters should be allowed to propagate, let alone impose, its ultra-conservative thoughts on other people that undermine the security of the state and punch chinks in social fabric. Trump’s fanatic notion as well as pandemic-hit US economic and public health devastation is the reason why Americans shifted their confidence from him to Biden.

It is crucial for Biden to commit himself for the cause given the bizarre theory is strengthening its roots in the US and nearly half of American had heard of QAnon, doubling the number in just six months. The most appalling finding was that despite a majority of the people surveyed rejecting the theory, 41% of Republicans said it was good, something good or very good for the country.

Biden, in his first speech after winning the presidential election, promised to bridge the bitter divisions by unifying red and blue states, discarding harsh rhetoric and lowering the temperature. The new president would be down the right path nevertheless he needs to prudently extend his iron-clad willingness of broadening the scope of harmony to hardcore elements in Republicans.

At home, domestic Trump’s indecision to integrate the diverse American communities for vested interests combined with a failed coronavirus strategy has laid bare risks to the US security and social and economic stability. On the other hand, his blunt criticism of China, European Union (EU) and other states and multilateral organizations has alienated the country internationally.

Other than routing pandemic and stimulating the national economy, Biden should deploy his diplomatic and political acumen to tackle the violent culture taking root in the American society and mend ties with the only growing economy in the world, China. Although reengagement with Beijing would require plenty of guts from him, it still remains the way to help the US rid of these multipolar crises.

*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared at "The Mail & Guardian ":
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