Analysis
Diverse voices, unique insights on key issues shaping China’s engagement throughout the Global South.
analysis
China’s Digital Silk Road Quietly Rewires Southeast Asia, One Cable and Camera at a Time
China's economic footprint in Southeast Asia has two faces. The first is very visible: industrial parks in Vietnam and Cambodia, the China-Laos Railway, and the clusters of Chinese traders in the commercial districts of Sihanoukville and Mandalay. The second face does ...
analysis
China E-Mobility Weekly Digest: Chinese EV Gifts Rattle Government as Second-hand Market Surge Expected From Europe
This is a free preview of the upcoming Africa EVs Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service. Irresistible! That was clearly the reaction from two South African politicians, whose acceptance of Chinese EV gifts has unsettled their ...
Why Has China Resumed Artificial Island Construction in the South China Sea?
After nearly a decade-long hiatus, China in October quietly resumed artificial island construction in the South China Sea, according to commercial satellite imagery. Rather than focusing on the Spratly Islands, where Beijing already has de facto control over seven maritime features with airbases on three of them, ...
China’s Sulfur Export Ban Exposes a Hidden Chokepoint in Global Metals Supply Chains
By Andy Home The Iran war has already caused turmoil in the global aluminum market, but now the fallout is spreading to both copper and nickel supply chains. The conduit is sulfur, a by-product ...
Amid Middle East Chaos, China Changes Tack on Taiwan and Japan
By Peter Apps As U.S. Vice President JD Vance returned to Washington last weekend after unsuccessful peace talks in Pakistan over the crisis in the Gulf, China’s Foreign Ministry was preparing for a bumper slate of visitors, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei ...
An aerial view of Qilianyu islands in the Paracel chain, which China considers part of Hainan province on August 10, 2018. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP) / CHINA OUT
After nearly a decade-long hiatus, China in October quietly resumed artificial island construction in the South China Sea, according to commercial satellite imagery. Rather than focusing on the Spratly Islands, where Beijing already has de facto control over seven maritime features with airbases on three of them, it has turned to ...
China E-Mobility Weekly Digest: Chinese EV Gifts Rattle Government as Second-hand Market Surge Expected From Europe
This is a free preview of the upcoming Africa EVs Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service. Irresistible! That was clearly the reaction from two South African politicians, whose acceptance of Chinese EV gifts has unsettled their ...
Why Has China Resumed Artificial Island Construction in the South China Sea?
After nearly a decade-long hiatus, China in October quietly resumed artificial island construction in the South China Sea, according to commercial satellite imagery. Rather than focusing on the Spratly Islands, where Beijing already has de facto control over seven maritime features with airbases on three of them, ...
Amid Middle East Chaos, China Changes Tack on Taiwan and Japan
By Peter Apps As U.S. Vice President JD Vance returned to Washington last weekend after unsuccessful peace talks in Pakistan over the crisis in the Gulf, China’s Foreign Ministry was preparing for a bumper slate of visitors, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei ...
China Moves to Block Entrance to Disputed South China Sea Shoal, Images Show
By Greg Torode and Karen Lema China is employing ships and a barrier to tighten control of the entrance to the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea amid roiling tension with the Philippines over the disputed feature, satellite imagery ...
A 2015 Speech for a 2026 Crisis
Former U.S. ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, on Saturday delivered the opening address at the Harvard College China Forum, where he presented the case for deeper engagement between the two major powers. The speech would have been great if it were ...
China Model Gains Appeal in Vietnam as Police Expand Power
By Francesco Guarascio Vietnam is increasingly edging closer to China's model of governance, tightening state control while embracing Chinese technology and regulation as its most powerful leader in decades heads to Beijing this week, according to internal documents, public ...
China’s Energy Strategy Pays off as Mideast War Cramps Supplies: Analysts
By Peter Catterall China's long-term strategy of diversifying energy sources and building stockpiles is helping it weather disruptions from the Iran war, although some sectors still face major snags, analysts say. China is a net ...
The Real Victor: The Arab Media Debate on China and the Iran War
By Francesca Daniele On March 11, 2026, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2817. Proposed by Bahrain and backed by fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries as well as Jordan, the resolution condemns “in the strongest terms” Iran’s ...
On Iran Truce, All Sides Want Bigger China Role, but Does China?
By Shaun Tandon For decades, the United States has cast itself as the guarantor of stability in the Middle East, allying militarily with Gulf Arab states as well as Israel and brushing aside global rival China's aspirations for a greater role. ...
The Panama Paradox: China’s Escalation Ladder and the Rise of Logistics Coercion
More than two months ago, Panama’s Supreme Court annulled a long-standing contract that allowed Hong Kong-based company CK Hutchison to operate the ports of Balboa and Cristobal, located at either end of the Panama Canal. The decision essentially removed a Chinese-linked company from two of the most ...
China’s Mining and Port Power in Peru Draws Renewed U.S. Attention
By Lucinda Elliott and Marco Aquino As Peru heads into the first round of its presidential election on Sunday, Washington is mounting its most assertive push in years to shore up influence in the major copper producer that has become a ...
Guinea Iron Ore Project Tests China’s ‘Transition Finance’ Credibility
By Deng Yaowen In January 2024, China Baowu Steel Group issued the first tranche of a bond that raised CNY 10 billion ($1.45 billion) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Media reports described it as one ...