Analysis
Diverse voices, unique insights on key issues shaping China’s engagement throughout the Global South.
analysis
China: The Indispensable Partner of Maduro’s Venezuela
By Peter Catterall China was the dominant buyer of Venezuelan oil under deposed president Nicolas Maduro, the fulcrum of a symbiotic partnership that propped up the South American economy and gave Beijing regional influence. But ...
analysis
China’s Rhetoric Is Clear on Venezuela. Latin America’s Response Is Not.
While the dust from the U.S. military operation in Caracas to oust Nicolás Maduro has yet to settle, early Chinese reactions already offer useful food for thought. The views expressed across Latin America, largely absent from both Chinese and Western commentary, also help contextualize how China’s relationship ...
Survey: Indonesians See China as an Opportunity, Not an Ally or Threat
Global debates about China’s rise often revolve around military flashpoints or ideological rivalry. Far less attention is paid to how societies in influential middle powers actually perceive Beijing’s growing role. Indonesia—home to more than 270 million people, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, and a country with a long ...
CGSP Take: How Does the Venezuela Crisis Affect China’s Relationship with the Global South?
By Cobus van Staden, CGSP Head of Research, China has sharply criticized the Trump administration’s incursion into Venezuela and its detention of President Nicolás Maduro. During his regular press conference on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson ...
Q&A: Maduro’s Fall Tests China’s Influence in Washington’s Backyard
The United States government's rationale for last Friday's military incursion into Venezuela to detain President Nicolás Maduro has evolved over the months from combating narco-terrorism to asserting control over the country's vast oil reserves. But amid the varying justifications for the intervention was a concern about China's ...
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (2-R) shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping (2-L) during a signing-of-agreements ceremony, in Caracas on July 21, 2014. Photo by LEO RAMIREZ / AFP
By Peter Catterall China was the dominant buyer of Venezuelan oil under deposed president Nicolas Maduro, the fulcrum of a symbiotic partnership that propped up the South American economy and gave Beijing regional influence. But after a U.S. military ...
China E-Mobility Weekly Digest: Driving Kenya’s First Locally Built Electric Car as BYD Dethrones Tesla and China’s ICE & EV Dual Strategy
This is a free preview of the upcoming Africa EVs Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service. African countries are embarking on an unprecedented bout of techno-social evolution brought about by Chinese electric vehicle (EV) technologies that ...
U.S. Strike in Venezuela Intensifies Chinese Media Debate Over Taiwan
Washington’s intervention in Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro have sent shockwaves across Chinese social media, triggering surprise, anger, and unease. Beyond that, a more intriguing conversation emerged - Taiwan. U.S. forces carried out the lightning strike on Caracas ...
After Venezuela, China Is Watching How Washington Defines Its Sphere of Influence
By Shaun Tandon With a major attack to arrest Venezuela's leader, President Donald Trump is showing that the United States will impose its will in its neighborhood -- and the lesson may not be lost on Russia and China.
Why Honduras’ Presidential Election Matters for China and Taiwan
More than three weeks after elections were held, Honduras still does not have a new president. Nasry Asfura of the conservative National Party leads by a narrow margin, with roughly 43,000 more votes than his closest competitor, Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party. ...
Panama’s Diplomatic Tightrope: One China, Beijing’s Red Lines, and the Politics of a Taiwan Trip
On November 13, 2025, amid reports of a possible visit by members of Panama’s National Assembly to Taiwan, the president of Panama, José Raúl Mulino tweeted that such a trip did not have the support or approval of his government. The tweet triggered a chain of ...
Disputed Myanmar Election Wins China’s Vote of Confidence
Myanmar's military-run elections are being pilloried abroad and shunned at home, but neighboring China has emerged as an enthusiastic backer of the pariah poll. International monitors have dismissed the vote starting Sunday as a charade to rebrand Myanmar's military rule since ...
Cameroon Goes All in on Chinese Safe Cities, but at What Cost?
In 2014, the Cameroonian government launched the “Cameroon Intelligent City Project,” where 70 Huawei-supplied CCTV cameras were installed across six localities. The project expanded through several phases, with some sources noting that the government hopes to install 24,000 cameras nationwide. By December 2025, government borrowing for these initiatives had ...
China’s Rare Earths El Dorado Gives Strategic Edge
By Peter Catterall Buried in the reddish soil of southern China lies latent power: one of the largest clusters of critical rare earths is mined around the clock by a secretive, heavily guarded industry. The ...
China-Africa and the Cost of Unused Talent
When it comes to the China-Africa story, most people first think about infrastructure. Those who follow it more closely might think of diplomacy. But China-Africa relations is also a story about hundreds, maybe even thousands, of African students trained in China through scholarships and bilateral partnerships.
Taiwan Eyes Fresh Diplomatic Ties With Honduras
By Allison Jackson and Amber Wang with Joan Suazo in Tegucigalpa Taiwanese seafood trader Jay Yen used to import 2,000 tonnes of shrimp a year from Honduras before the Central American country cut diplomatic ties with the democratic island in 2023. ...
China E-Mobility Weekly Digest: China Engineering Africa’s EV Future From Assembly Kits to Full Factories
This is a free preview of the upcoming Africa EVs Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service. For many African countries to achieve some level of local manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs), completely knocked down (CKD) and ...
Shaping Tomorrow: How China and Africa Are Negotiating a Shared Future
By Gaia Guatri Lagos—At 7:30 a.m., the light rail hums above the gridlock, gliding through the haze of exhaust and early heat. Built by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and financed through Chinese loans, the sleek blue carriages slice ...