Cobus van Staden

Cobus van Staden is a Senior Researcher focusing on China-Africa relations for the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). He is also affiliated with the Department of Media Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand.

He graduated with a PhD in Media Studies from the University of Nagoya in Japan in 2008. After working as a TV producer and investigative journalist, he moved to fully focusing on the relationship between Japan, China and Africa as a postdoctoral research fellow at Stellenbosch University and the University of Johannesburg in 2011. He joined the University of the Witwatersrand in 2013. He was a senior lecturer in media studies at Wits, until joining SAIIA as a senior researcher on China-Africa issues in 2017.

Van Staden focuses on the interplay of geopolitics and media in the China-Africa relationship. He also a co-founder of the China in Africa Podcast, which has become a popular forum for experts in the China-Africa field.