The head of a Chinese military delegation visiting the Seychelles earlier this month said that his country was interested in developing closer military ties with the Indian Ocean nation. In an email interview, Jonathan Holslag, a researcher at the Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies, discussed China’s relations with the Seychelles. WPR: What is the current state of China-Seychelles political, trade and military relations? Jonathan Holslag: The partnership is characterized more by great expectations on the part of the Seychelles rather than a great Chinese presence. China’s visibility is growing. More tourists are discovering the island states, and some private [...]
MOMBASA, Kenya — Following a barrage of accusations that the Rwandan government is fueling conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the presidents of the two nations met Sunday to broker a deal authorizing an African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in the conflict-prone region. Held on the sidelines of an AU summit in Addis Ababa, the face-to-face talks constitute a rarity for the central African neighbors. In recent years, each side has repeatedly blamed the other for arming various insurgencies in the mineral-rich and chronically chaotic territory of the eastern DRC. The U.N. released a report in June [...]
Twenty Ethiopian journalists and opposition figures accused of trying to topple the government will now spend between eight years and the rest of their lives in prison. As the New York Times reported, these defendants, who were convicted on terrorism charges, were the victims of security concerns being used “as an excuse to crack down on dissent and media freedoms.” The Horn of Africa country, located between Sudan and Somalia, is seen by the U.S. as a source of stability and as a key regional partner in the war on terror, explained Claire Beston, the Ethiopia researcher at Amnesty International. [...]
