Day: September 6, 2025

China, US, Japan race to control African rail routes in critical minerals fight

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A geopolitical contest is unfolding in central-southern Africa, where major global powers are vying for control of key logistical routes amid a global race to secure critical minerals for the green energy transition. Advertisement At the centre of this rivalry lies the small town of Kapiri Mposhi in central Zambia, a strategic hub where three competing corridors – China’s Tazara, the US-backed Lobito Corridor and Japan’s Nacala Corridor – converge. Observers say the race to build these corridors is not just about moving minerals, but a strategic effort by global…

Xi, Putin, Kim and the optics of a new world order

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Waving beatifically over the crowd of 50,000 spectators assembled in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on Wednesday, Xi Jinping exuded an aura of confidence that many leaders in the west could only envy. To his left stood North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of an increasingly strident hermit kingdom. To his right was the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, Xi’s “old friend” and China’s biggest ally in opposing the US-led world order. The last time that the leaders of these three countries were together in public was at the height of the…

How Tokyo became an unexpected haven for China’s middle class

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Placing her teacup on the lacquered table, a chic Tokyo-ite turns towards the café’s open window to absorb the beauty of a July day in the Japanese capital. Outside, the leaves on the avenue of ginkgo trees are a rich summer green; the early afternoon sun thrums down on Ueno Park. Crowds wander towards the country’s oldest national museum. “I so, so love this city. But, over the past few months, I have started to change the route I take when walking through my neighbourhood,” she confesses. “I use smaller…