Analysis
Diverse voices, unique insights on key issues shaping China’s engagement throughout the Global South.
analysis
Critical Minerals Weekly Digest: China’s Grip is getting Tested as the West Ramps Friend-shoring
This is a free preview of the upcoming Critical Minerals Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in Summer 2025. Policy shifts this week widened Washington’s definition of “critical minerals,” as state-owned companies and trading houses stepped up ...
analysis
What a Ukraine Deal Would Mean for China’s Energy Security
In August, President Trump hosted a marathon of meetings aimed at delivering on a Ukraine-Russia peace deal. Previously, the Trump Administration hinted at reducing or lifting sanctions on Moscow as part of a final deal. A Ukraine peace deal that rolls back sanctions on Russia may undercut ...
Indonesia Trade Surplus Masks a Persistent China Deficit Problem
China has tightened its hold on Indonesia’s economy, emerging as the largest buyer of non-oil exports (22.64%) and the largest source of non-oil imports (40.35%) of Indonesia's trade from January to July 2025. China is Indonesia’s top buyer of non-oil ...
China and Russia Use Eurasian Gathering to Push Back Against the West
By Isabelle Kua Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin took turns Monday to swipe at the West during a gathering of Eurasian leaders for a showpiece summit aimed at putting Beijing front and centre of regional relations.
Pacifist Japan Struggles to Boost Troops as China Anxiety Grows
By Hiroshi Hiyama Sporting dark face paint and clutching a gun, teenage soldier-in-training Takuma Hiyane crawls across a field on Japan's Okinawa, the front line of the nation's defence as anxiety grows over China's territorial ambitions.
A Sinopec employee assists with the docking of a liquefied natural gas tanker in Tianjin in October. [Photo/Xinhua]
In August, President Trump hosted a marathon of meetings aimed at delivering on a Ukraine-Russia peace deal. Previously, the Trump Administration hinted at reducing or lifting sanctions on Moscow as part of a final deal. A Ukraine peace deal that rolls back sanctions on Russia may undercut China’s energy security by ...
Putin and Modi in China for Summit Hosted by Xi
President Xi Jinping gathered the leaders of Russia and India among dignitaries from around 20 Eurasian countries on Sunday for a showpiece summit aimed at putting China front and center of regional relations. Security was tight in the northern port city ...
Don’t Expect Concrete Results From the SCO Summit – That’s Not the Point
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is gearing up for its annual summit on Sunday, and the same old criticisms are resurfacing: too big, too divided, too vague. And there’s truth to that. What started as a six-member organization in 2001 (consisting ...
China to Bolster Non-Western Alliances at Summit, Parade
By Isabel Kua China's President Xi Jinping will host world leaders including Russia's Vladimir Putin and India's Narendra Modi from Sunday for a summit before a huge military parade as he seeks to showcase a non-Western style of regional collaboration.
Indonesia Deepens Ties With Xinjiang Despite Human Rights Concerns
When the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) opened its doors to Xinjiang’s state-linked conglomerates this month, the event was billed as a milestone in deepening trade ties. Executives from Jakarta and Urumqi spoke glowingly of “mutual respect” ...
China E-Mobility Weekly Digest: Changan’s 932-Mile EV Battery, Chery’s SA Crash Test and Nairobi’s New E-Tuktuks
This is a free preview of the upcoming Africa EVs Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in Summer 2025. This week, news broke of Chinese automaker Changan's plans to unveil an electric vehicle (EV) with ...
Stop Calling the Lobito Corridor a U.S. Gambit Against China
There’s a lazy but geopolitically irresistible allure in branding Angola’s Lobito Corridor as a U.S. bid to blunt China’s influence in Africa and the region’s mineral supply chains. I get why the framing sticks: it’s neat, dramatic, and easy to sell. ...
U.S. Bids to Trump China in DR Congo Mining Rush
The United States wants to secure its supply of strategic minerals in conflict-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, hoping to challenge China's near-monopoly on the lucrative sector. While the strategy has been in the works for years, Washington has doubled down on ...
China’s Belt and Road Recalibration: Why Kazakhstan is the New Metals Frontier
Despite widespread expectations that China’s engagement with Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries would slow, recent data tells a different story. According to a new report from the Griffith Asia Institute, Chinese involvement in the 150 BRI countries surged in the first half of 2025, reaching ...
From Estrangement to Reassessment? Israeli Media and Expert Views on China After the Twelve-Day War
By Amanda Chen Building on our previous analysis of China’s official position and expert debate on the Iran–Israel War, this edition of the ChinaMed Observer examines how the conflict has shaped Israeli analysts’ perceptions of China’s role in the Middle East. Even prior to ...
Critical Minerals Weekly Digest: Global Supply Chains Reshaped by Tariffs, Bilateral Deals, and Strategic R&D
This is a free preview of the upcoming Critical Minerals Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in Summer 2025. Global critical mineral markets this week reflected the mounting intersection of geopolitics, industrial policy, and resource nationalism. China ...
Documents Show New Zealand Unease Over Chinese Warships in South Pacific
By Steven Trask China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, according to military documents obtained by AFP. Beijing has spent ...
China’s Battery Supremacy Tests Southeast Asia’s EV Ambitions
At a recent auto show in Jakarta, a curious pattern emerged. The most common questions from potential buyers of products from the EV industry were simple: How far will it go? Will it last? How is the safety? The answers to all three lie deep within the ...