Showing posts with label Ivory. Show all posts

Saturday, October 24, 2015

The Ivory Queen?

On Wednesday October 7, 2015, Yang Feng Glan, a 66-year-old Chinese restaurant owner in Dar es Salaam station and vice-president and secretary-general of the Tanzania China-Africa business council, appeared in a Tanzanian court to be charged with smuggling ivory between 2000 and 2014. Media reports have dubbed her the "Ivory Queen" and the Elephant Action League, an American NGO, described her as “the most important ivory trafficker ever arrested in the country.” Host Winslow Robertson and new cohost Ms. Lina Benabdallah are joined by Hongxiang Huang, owner and manager of the China-Africa social enterprise China House and expert on China-Africa ivory smuggling issues, to look closer at this story. Did Yang Feng Glan fit the proverbial profile of a Chinese ivory smuggler in Africa?

Recommendations

Winslow

Reporting FOCAC by Wits China-Africa Reporting Project and the China Africa Project

Lina

VANISHING POINT Criminality, Corruption and the Devastation of Tanzania’s Elephants by the Environmental Investigation Agency

Hongxiang Huang

Sources

Prosecutors say this 66-year-old Chinese woman is one of Africa’s most notorious smugglers by Kevin Sieff
Chinese ‘Ivory queen’ Yang Fenglan arrested, charged in Tanzania

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African Development Jobs

Mighty Mike

Monday, March 2, 2015

How to use Chinese social media to effectively engage Chinese people in elephant conservation

By Li Jiayu

“Hello, guys. Do you have Weibo and WeChat?” said Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder and CEO of Save The Elephants the first time he met us. It really surprised me to meet a foreigner so familiar with Chinese social media.

However, after communicating with the staff and many similar conservation groups, I have gradually discovered that, despite the strong interest, these organizations knew little about using Weibo and WeChat (the most popular Chinese social media platforms) effectively. “I don’t understand what our translated Weibo account name means,” Resson, the project officer of Save The Elephants, explained when I pointed out that Save The Elephant’s account name was too long and confusing for Chinese people to understand.

Advice for International Elephant Conservation Groups from a Chinese Youth

By Wu Yue

David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's elephant orphanage/Wu Yue

At 8:20 pm on January 27, almost one month ago, I touched down in Kenya at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Before I got off the plane, I had already received a text message from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). At that time, I was bored waiting for my luggage, so instead of deleting the message as usual, I read it. They wanted me to have a safe and wonderful trip in Kenya and also gave me some advice, such as "do not go out alone at night". I promptly discarded that counsel. I was in Kenya to learn about elephant conservation and the ivory trade with China House, the first Chinese social enterprise in Africa focusing on studying and improving China-Africa engagement.

Translation Tuesday: Why Is China Always Accused on the Ivory Issue?

By Joseph Webster and Laiyin Yuan

Translator: Joseph Webster and Laiyin Yuan
Published on: N/A

Author: N/A
Source: N/A
Original text (in Chinese): N/A

Members of the official Chinese delegation to Tanzania in 2013 used President Xi’s presidential plane and diplomatic pouches to illegally smuggle ivory from Tanzania to China, according to an explosive report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), a British NGO. The EIA “is an independent campaigning organization committed to bringing about change that protects the natural world from environmental crime and abuse.” The EIA’s report on the illegal elephant trade in Tanzania, called “Vanishing Point,” can be found here.

The following article is a translated response to the EIA report. It is not an official media response. As of this writing, it appears that the Chinese and English language editions of Xinhua, the Global Times, or China Daily have not published an article about the EIA report, despite – or perhaps because of – its potentially harmful influence on Africa-China relations and its unsettling implications about the Chinese leadership’s adherence to its own laws.

--- Joseph Webster and Laiyin Yuan (Translators)

Why Is China Always Accused on the Ivory Issue?

Does the continuous China-bashing on the ivory issue provide any benefit for solving the poaching problem?

During the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference, an article without credible evidence attracted great attention and mass reprinting from the Western media. The article is about a piece of news that was written 20 months ago with the sensational title “Chinese Presidential Delegation smuggles ivory.” This article has nothing to do with the ivory trade itself. This article is nothing but another Western media’s attempt to witch-hunt and sneer at China.

SADC: Tomorrow: U.S. Competitiveness in Africa w/ Members of Congress

On Tuesday there will be a ton of interesting events, I hope to see you at some of them!

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you all had a Happy Father's Day! I sure did, as I participated in Andy's Google+ Hangout, along with Jemila, which was was quite successful! Here is the edited video and summary (we ran into some technical errors), and while we could not get the original panel of guests, Shuang and Andy found a wonderful substitute in Hongxiang Huang. I thought it went really well, though my wife pointed out some of the ways I could have improved my performance (I said "umm" way too much, sadly... next time I will do better, honey!). This week there should be a lot of interesting events going on in the DC area, I hope to meet some of you on Tuesday for the congressional discussion about US competitiveness in Africa as well as the remarks by the Honorable Raila A. Odinga, who will talk about Sino-African relations and Africa as a whole.

Jemila, along with Blogging Ghana, is putting together her own Hangout on Thursday, June 20. The panelists are still being worked out, but there are going to be a lot of them and a few of our members should be participating. And, in the same vein of Andy's Hangout, the participants will all be Chinese or African except for myself (I somehow keep representing the United States in all of these events...). Be sure to check it out!
If you have a bit of free time on your hands, I urge you to read through the latestSouth Africa Foreign Policy Initiative Digest, which can be found here. While mostly focused on BRICS issues, there are a number of pieces that are of interest to Sino-Africa watchers, (Thank you Prof. Park)
Since no one responded to the potluck idea, it has been dropped.

Enjoy the weather!

Area Events

U.S. Competitiveness in Africa – Leveling the Playing Field (Thank you Maame)

By: The Office of Ranking Member Karen Bass, House Africa Subcommittee
Date and Time: Tuesday, June 18, 08:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Location: The Member’s Room, Thomas Jefferson Building
Library of Congress

Reaching Across the Pacific: Latin America and Asia in the New Century
By: Woodrow Wilson Center
Date and Time: Tuesday, June 18, 8:45 AM - 1:00 PM
Location: 5th Floor
Woodrow Wilson Center

A Briefing by The Honorable Raila A. Odinga: African Achievements and Challenges: Learning from the Past but Looking Forward
By: Woodrow Wilson Center
Date and Time: Tuesday, June 18, 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Location: 5th Floor
Woodrow Wilson Center

Amadou and Mariam (Thank you Edward)
By: 9:30 Club
Date and Time: Tuesday, June 20, 7:00 PM
Location: 9:30 Club
815 V St NW

Women as Agents of Change: Traditional Practices and Community-Based Social Change in Ethiopia
By: Woodrow Wilson Center
Date and Time: Thursday, June 20, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Location: 6th Floor
Woodrow Wilson Center

Cheick Hamala Diabate (Thank you Edward)
By: Kennedy Center
Date and Time: Thursday, June 20, 6:00 PM
Location: Kennedy Center - Millenium Stage
2700 F St NW

Emmanuel Jal (Thank you Edward)
By: Kennedy Center
Date and Time: Saturday, June 22, 6:00 PM
Location: Kennedy Center - Millenium Stage
2700 F St NW

Miss Africa USA Pageant (Thank you Edward)
By: Miss Africa USA Pageant 2013
Date and Time: Saturday, June 29, 07:00 PM
Location: The Fillmore Silver Spring
8656 Colesville Rd Silver Spring, MD 20910

Conferences

Calls for Papers

Call for Papers - International Journal of Human Rights Special Issue: Corporate Power & Human Rights (Thank you Prof. Park)
Call for Papers - Verge: Studies in Global Asias (Thank you Prof. Park)
Call for Papers: State Policy and the Cultural Politics of Heritage-Making in East and Southeast Asia - International Institute for Asian Studies (Thank you Prof. Park)
Call for Papers and Panels - Asian Studies Association of Australia (Thank you Prof. Park)
Call for Proposals: China, UK, Low-Income Countries and Agriculture/Food Security - AgriTT (Thank you Prof. Brautigam)
Call for Submissions - Politique Africaine (Thank you Prof. Park)

Opportunities (courtesy of Nina)

Of Interest

Africa: The China-Africa Convergence: Can America Catch Up? - A balanced, nuanced look at how American involvement in Africa is trailing that of the Chinese, why it matters, and what must be done about it. Howard French is also awesome, so always read his stuff.
Anonymous ‘Baba Jukwa’ Facebook Dishes Dirt on Zimbabwe Politics - Baba Jukwa, an anonymous Facebook poster writing about Zimbabwe politics from an insider's perspective, tells one story (out of many) about a Chinese contractor whose project was built to support the Zimbabwe government rather than its people. It is not the fault of the Chinese though, they are just doing their job and the author's ire is directed towards the Zim government
Chinese investors look to broaden their African portfolios - If one can get over the "China is the best" tone of the article, there are some really great quotes and anecdotes to be found.
From Gold Mine to Land Mine – The Chinese in Ghana - This fantastic essay gathers social media sources and scholarly monographs and articles to talk about the situation in Ghana, and locates the tension within the context of different labor cultures. The story about Chinese racism and their handling of Ghanaian maids is quite chilling.
Leave Chinese alone - Prostitutes cry out - “'The galamsey [small-scale miners] operators don’t even ask for reduction for our services; they accept whatever prices we give them,' Victoria said. 'The Chinese galamseyers pay well unlike the ordinary Ghanaian who would ask for reduction,' she added." Who says the Chinese do not create jobs in Africa?
Lifan sees Africa as doorway to world - This interview with Yin Minshan, President of the automaker Chongqing Lifan group, talks about his companies plans to expand in Africa. A few of my buddies in China had Lifan motorcycles but I do not really know the company.
Over there: China ponders sending more combat troops on UN peacekeeping missions - A fascinating analysis of what China has to think about as it sends over 500 troops to Mali, some which might be actual soldiers rather than the usual engineers, medical workers, or transport staff.
SA is riding the Chinese dragon into a tempest - A look at how China's economic growth and contractions affect the South African economy. I am not sure the housing market situation in China is as dire as the author contends, though. As someone who predicted a Chinese housing crash back in 2009 for 2012-2013 (and planned to buy property in that crash), I learned to NEVER make predictions about the Chinese housing market, because you will always be wrong.
Save elephants from Chinese ivory trade or we lose them, says researcher - This piece joins the growing chorus of people who track the ivory poaching issue as saying China should do more about it.
Soft Power? China Has Plenty - An interesting overview of Chinese soft-power in Africa through the lens of aid and education, citing both Prof. Brautigam and Prof. Kenneth King. I think that the author oversells the point, and I could have done without the $74 billion aid figure cited, but worth a read regardless.
Taskforce dared to arrest chiefs benefiting from illegal mining - While much of the focus over last week's row over Chinese mining in Africa was directed at illegal Chinese miners, this piece talks about some of the actors who facilitated their actions: local chiefs.

Member Contributions

Hansen, Peter C., "Increasing U.S. Exports to Africa: Why U.S. Investment Is First Necessary" House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations
Hansen, Peter C., "Subcommittee Hearing: Increasing American Jobs through Greater Exports to Africa" House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations
Liu, Andy Shuai, "China Open Mic Hangout: Chinese Miners in Ghana - Does It Matter which Cat Catches the Mice?" China Open Mic
Liu, Andy Shuai, "Open Note: Transparency and Open Engagement Help Both Africa and China" China Open Mic
Shinn, David, "China Establishing Two New Investment Funds for Africa" The official blog of Amb. David H. Shinn

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Monday, June 10, 2013

SADC: Tonight: Prof. Horace Campbell Talks Libya and NATO

Tonight there are two competing events: a China happy hour and an Africa tweetup. Both events will be great!

Dear Colleagues,

The Chinese miners in Ghana stories have justifiably dominated the recent Sino-Africa headlines. Sadly there is no upcoming local event that I can find for us to better learn about the issue, so I hope we might make that a topic of a future event.

Feedback for the new newsletter has been pretty positive, though opinions are split as to whether the old aesthetic was more pleasing or not. If there is any section you think I should add, please let me know..
Jemila and Andy are thinking of putting together some fantastic Google+ Hangouts about different Sino-Africa issues, I will keep you updated as to their progress (there is a chance I might participate in both, but I would be sharing this information regardless)
Here is one call for papers but I could not find a website, so I put it on here: We invite you to submit your essay dealing with globalization issues (broadly defined) to the Journal of International and Global Studies. The deadline for submission of essays is August 15, 2013. The Journal of International and Global Studies provides a peer reviewed multidisciplinary forum for the critical discussion of and reflections on the consequences of globalization throughout the world. The editors welcome essays that deal with globalization from economists, historians, political scientists, anthropologists, sociologists, geographers, linguists, religious, ethnic, or environmental studies specialists, cross-cultural education, media and communication researchers, or other humanities or social science scholars that have an international and global focus. One of our goals is to help undermine the fragmentation of specialization within the international academy by emphasizing broad interdisciplinary approaches to the comprehension of globalization in all of its many different forms and implications for different regions of the world.
Here is another call for papers without a website:The Scientific Committee of the General Labor History of Africa are seeking authors to contribute the underlisted topics for the ILO-supported Volume II of the General History of Africa, 1900-Present. (Work has not yet begun on Volume I.) Selected authors will participate in a conference of authors to take place in Addis Ababa in December this year. Social welfare implementation and consequences on labour (pension, security, safety and health) (max. 30 pages). Mutualistic, associational and cooperative labour (max. 30 pages). Entrepreneurs (max 15 pages). Service/trade (max. 15 pages). A case study of migrant labor within Africa (can be seasonal labor) (max. 15 pages). A case study on outside Africa (highly paid/poor migrants) (max. 15 pages). We request those who are interested in contributing any of the above chapters to please send an abstract of not more than 500 words to Ugo Nwokeji <ugo@berkeley.edu> and Stefano Bellucci <sbe@iisg.nl> by Tuesday, June 11, 2013.
We are still a ways off on the next event (the debate). Rather than risk losing momentum for the group, perhaps we could put together a potluck at someone's house? I am thinking it would have to be close to the metro (If anyone wants to do it at my place, you would have to take a short bus after getting off at Pentagon City, but I would be more than happy to pick you up from there). I would be quite willing to help set up and clean up if we were to do so, and even bring some of my famous (though neither Chinese or Ghanaian) garlic mashed potatoes. Thoughts? I think we could put something together by early or mid July.

I hope to see you at Prof. Campbell's talk tonight! Just so you know: there WILL be radical Pan-Africanist sentiment present. You have been warned!