Where the Yangtze meets the Congo

Xi Jinping's first trip abroad as president started in Russia, China's geopolitically ally and indispensable partner in countering United States hegemony. His eight-day journey, which started on March 22, then took him to Africa, an increasingly vital source of the raw materials and investment opportunities needed by China's growing economy, wrires Brendan P O'Reilly, a China-based writer and educator from Seattle. Read more