https://www.scmp.com/rss/519153/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Xinlu Liang Xinlu Liang As one of the biggest targets of wartime looting in centuries past, China is now positioning itself as a global pioneer in repatriating lost cultural artefacts. In this article, the second in a two-part series, Xinlu Liang looks at how China is wielding law, diplomacy and a Global South coalition to rewrite the rules of restitution, filling a void left by a retreating US. In January, as the United States was withdrawing from a raft of heritage and science bodies around the world, China was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348243/how-china-stepping-cultural-repatriation-void-left-retreating-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348243/how-china-stepping-cultural-repatriation-void-left-retreating-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Mar 2026 22:00:13 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage As France’s influence fades and with Russian weapons in limited supply, a “military vacuum” has been created in West and Central Africa that China is uniquely positioned to fill, according to analysts. In a January report in the official journal China Military to Civilian, arms supplier China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation said Beijing was leveraging its reputation for “cost-effective technology and flexible financing” in Africa. This follows a wave of military coups across... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3342903/how-military-vacuum-west-and-central-africa-opened-new-markets-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3342903/how-military-vacuum-west-and-central-africa-opened-new-markets-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Feb 2026 04:00:11 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Mali and Burkina Faso have announced travel restrictions on American nationals in a tit-for-tat move after the United States included both African countries on a no entry list. US President Donald Trump, who has long campaigned to restrict immigration, expanded a travel ban earlier this month by barring people from seven more countries. The list included Syrian citizens, as well as Palestinian Authority passport holders, and nationals of some of Africa’s poorest countries, including Niger,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3338324/mali-burkina-faso-restrict-entry-us-citizens-tit-tat-move?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3338324/mali-burkina-faso-restrict-entry-us-citizens-tit-tat-move?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Dec 2025 11:03:03 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A Burkinabe teenager who used artificial intelligence to post fake news of a French coup on social media got more than he bargained for. As well as millions of views and tens of thousands of “likes”, he also acquired a certain notoriety – and French President Emmanuel Macron, for one, was not amused. And what he had planned as a moneymaking scheme netted him only €7 (US$8), he said. But he has no regrets. “Coup d’etat in France,” declared the video posted by the 17-year-old, showing what... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3337148/african-teen-who-raised-macrons-ire-ai-generated-french-coup-video-has-no-regrets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3337148/african-teen-who-raised-macrons-ire-ai-generated-french-coup-video-has-no-regrets?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Dec 2025 03:06:04 +0000 Stephen Chen Stephen Chen For decades, China’s influence in Africa has been concentrated in the eastern part of the continent. In recent years, a clear westward expansion has emerged, drawing attention from the United States and several western European nations. Many analyses have framed this shift as geopolitically driven – a strategic effort by Beijing to erode Western nations’ traditional interests on the continent, with particular attention paid to political and military cooperation between China and West African... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3330354/science-drives-chinas-westward-expansion-africa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3330354/science-drives-chinas-westward-expansion-africa?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Oct 2025 08:00:14 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Venezuela said on Monday it had closed its embassy in Oslo, days after opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In a statement, the Venezuelan government, which has not commented on Machado’s prize, said that the closure was part of a restructuring of its foreign service. Caracas also closed its embassy in Australia while opening diplomatic outposts in Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso, countries it considers “strategic partners in the fight” against “hegemonic... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3328877/venezuela-closes-norway-embassy-after-opposition-leader-machado-awarded-nobel-peace-prize?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3328877/venezuela-closes-norway-embassy-after-opposition-leader-machado-awarded-nobel-peace-prize?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Oct 2025 23:24:50 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage China is equipping Burkina Faso’s military and positioning itself for greater influence in the Sahel, filling a vacuum left by the collapse of security partnerships with Western nations, especially the United States and France. The move is part of a broader modernisation plan that the Burkinabe government, headed by junta leader Ibrahim Traoré, announced in late 2023 amid growing insecurity waged by jihadist militants, mostly affiliated with al-Qaeda and Islamic State. After a complex diplomatic... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3321831/china-arms-burkina-faso-sahel-turns-away-western-security-promises?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3321831/china-arms-burkina-faso-sahel-turns-away-western-security-promises?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Aug 2025 11:00:09 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Ghana’s defence and environment ministers were killed in a military helicopter crash Wednesday, the presidency said, after the air force chopper carrying three crew and five passengers came down in a forest in the south. Television station Joy News broadcast mobile phone footage from the crash scene showing smouldering wreckage in a heavily forested area earlier in the day, before it was revealed that ministers Edward Omane Boamah and Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed were among the dead. Boamah became... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3321007/ghana-defence-and-environment-ministers-killed-helicopter-crash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3321007/ghana-defence-and-environment-ministers-killed-helicopter-crash?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Aug 2025 18:05:41 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage Several Chinese ambassadors from West African nations have bid farewell to their host countries in recent weeks. While some analysts suggest their departure could be routine rotations for diplomats, one said it could be a subtle message sent to Sahelian regimes amid rising tensions over resource nationalism and security concerns. In Senegal, a new Chinese ambassador, Li Zhigang, was welcomed in May, replacing Xiao Han, who had served for around four years. In Guinea, Huang Wei is concluding his... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3315190/routine-or-rising-tensions-chinese-ambassadors-exodus-west-african-nations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3315190/routine-or-rising-tensions-chinese-ambassadors-exodus-west-african-nations?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Jun 2025 02:00:09 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The UN nuclear watchdog’s board of governors on Thursday formally found that Iran was not complying with its nuclear obligations for the first time in 20 years, a move that could lead to further tensions and set in motion an effort to restore United Nations sanctions on Tehran later this year. Iran reacted immediately, saying it would establish a new enrichment facility after the vote against it. The announcement said the facility would be “in a secure location” and that “other measures are also... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3314151/nuclear-watchdog-finds-iran-not-complying-its-obligations-first-time-20-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3314151/nuclear-watchdog-finds-iran-not-complying-its-obligations-first-time-20-years?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Jun 2025 08:58:45 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage Since the 2023 coup that ousted the president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, Beijing has consistently sought to strengthen relations with the country’s military government. In line with its non-interference policy, one of the cornerstones of China’s foreign policy that states that countries should not meddle in the domestic political, economic or social systems of other countries, China swiftly embraced the military junta in Niger. Notably, China provided the new military government with a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3313824/china-niger-ties-challenge-beijings-cornerstone-non-interference-policy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3313824/china-niger-ties-challenge-beijings-cornerstone-non-interference-policy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Jun 2025 07:30:37 +0000 China’s first ever defence attaché to Niger, Colonel-Major Chen Xuming, was welcomed earlier this month at a reception held at the Chinese embassy in the capital Niamey. In front of Chinese ambassador Jiang Feng, and top Nigerien military chiefs including Sani Kache, secretary general of the defence ministry, Chen said he was ready to work with the West African country to implement the Global Security Initiative – China’s framework for international cooperation on security issues – “to expand... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3299655/how-china-filling-void-left-france-us-stronger-military-ties-africas-sahel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3299655/how-china-filling-void-left-france-us-stronger-military-ties-africas-sahel?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Feb 2025 01:00:12 +0000 Russia is seeking to woo African countries this weekend at a summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, with President Vladimir Putin promising the continent “total support”. Facing isolation in the West following its full-scale offensive against Ukraine, Moscow has tried to build new partnerships across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, promoting itself as a bulwark against what it calls Western domination on the international arena. “Our country will continue to provide total support to our... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3285980/putin-promises-africa-total-support-anti-west-pitch-sochi-summit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3285980/putin-promises-africa-total-support-anti-west-pitch-sochi-summit?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Nov 2024 15:26:45 +0000 Denmark said on Monday it was shutting its embassies in Mali and Burkina Faso as part of its new Africa strategy, as military coups have “severely limited the scope for action in the Sahel region”. Denmark said it would open embassies in Senegal, Tunisia and Rwanda, and bolster diplomatic staff at its embassies in Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana. Following the closures in Bamako and Ouagadougou, a special representative will be appointed for the African Great Lakes and Sahel... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3276014/denmark-shuts-embassies-junta-led-mali-and-burkina-faso-over-military-coups?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3276014/denmark-shuts-embassies-junta-led-mali-and-burkina-faso-over-military-coups?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Aug 2024 16:58:30 +0000