Diego Azubel—AFP/Getty Images

Comoros Vice President Fouad Mohadji during the opening of the Ministerial Forum of China-Africa Health Development in Beijing, August 16, 2013. The focus of the forum was health cooperation between the regions.

China’s BIG Gamble in the TINY Comoros Islands

A China in Africa Podcast

  • by Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden, Shannon Van Sant
  • March 6, 2015

Comoros is a tiny archipelago nation off the east coast of Africa in the Indian ocean where a major Chinese experiment is underway. Chinese scientists and pharmaceutical have undertaken a radical experiment to test an unlicensed anti-malarial herbal medicine on the entire population of the islands. Succeed or fail, the stakes are incredibly high. Separately, Beijing is also playing a high-profile role in the nation’s economic development with its usual package of infrastructure and loans. Journalist Shannon Van Sant traveled to the Comoros Islands on assignment for CBS News and joins us to talk about the PRC’s big gamble on this tiny country.

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Topics: 
Economy, Health
Keywords: 
Podcast, Malaria, Africa, Comoros Islands, Infrastructure, Pharmaceuticals, China-Africa Relations