The Saudis ask China for help
“Hi, China, it’s Saudi Arabia, could you tell Iran to ask the Houthis to chill out?” That, in so many words, is the current telephone game amid intensifying attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi oil export routes. With the US seemingly unable to contain the regional consequences of its war on Iran, China is seizing the moment. Beijing is Iran’s largest trade partner, but it also has good ties with Riyadh — just yesterday we learned the Kingdom appears to be using China-made missiles. And back in 2023, recall, China brokered a historic rapprochement between the two cross-Gulf rivals. Beijing’s interest goes beyond mere diplomatic flex – it wants to ensure the Houthis don’t undercut its own oil imports, the largest in the world. Will China’s pressure on Iran to pressure the Houthis to stop pressuring the Saudis work? If so, China’s clout in the region is about to jump up a notch.
South Africans push back on American data center expansion
Civil rights groups in South Africa are protesting the construction of data centers and demanded this month that the government pause their expansion until it investigates their use of scarce water and electricity. South Africa already has more data centers than any other country on the continent, most of which are owned by American companies. In recent years, the government has encouraged investment to expand Africa’s data center capacity, which sits at 1% of the global total despite the continent’s booming population of young people in need of more job opportunities. But the expansion is running up against two big concerns. First, water scarcity remains a major issue in South Africa – in 2018, Cape Town narrowly avoided a “Day Zero” water crisis. Second, the country has only recently emerged from a years-long electricity crisis, and the growing demand from power-hungry data centers is raising fears about new strain on the grid.
Tackling China’s growing presence with rugby
Australia is trying out a new tactic to counter China’s growing influence in the Pacific: rugby. Australia is offering rugby-obsessed Papua New Guinea more than $400 million to help launch a professional team in the capital city, Port Moresby, that would compete in Australia’s National Rugby League (most Papua New Guineans watch the Australian league because they lack a professional domestic circuit). But the deal comes with one major condition: Papua New Guinea cannot sign a security agreement with China. Beijing has poured investment into the resource-rich but underdeveloped country in recent years as it expands its footprint across the Pacific. After the neighboring Solomon Islands signed a landmark security pact with China in 2022, Australia has been scrambling to shore up its influence in a region it has long considered its strategic backyard. For now, Papuan officials seem to be on board with the deal.
