Analysis
Diverse voices, unique insights on key issues shaping China’s engagement throughout the Global South.
analysis
Zambia Cancels RightsCon, and the Blame Game Quickly Turns to China but Evidence Points Closer to Home
There's been a lot of anguish over the past several days following the Zambian government's surprise decision to cancel Rightscon, a long-running conference devoted to digital rights that was supposed to get underway on Tuesday. The immediate narrative that spread quickly ...
analysis
More Nepalis Turn to Chinese EVs, Evading Global Fuel Shocks
By Anup Ojha As global fuel markets reel from the Middle East war, motorists in Nepal are increasingly turning to electric vehicles, with high demand putting a strain on dealerships. Electric microbus driver Purushottam ...
Zimbabwe’s Lithium Bet Begins to Pay Off
Zimbabwe’s ban on raw lithium exports, introduced in 2022, is beginning to yield tangible results. After several years of restrictions and government pressure, Chinese companies are gradually aligning with Zimbabwe’s requirements and priorities, contributing to a rapid transformation of the country’s lithium industry.
Indonesia’s Trade Policy Is Being Tested By U.S.-China Rivalry
This article is excerpted and republished from a paper first published with the Hinrich Foundation in April 2026. Indonesia is once again attempting to thread a very narrow geopolitical needle—deepening ties with the United States without rupturing its indispensable relationship ...
Pakistan Positions Itself as Peacemaker, With China as a Cautious Partner
Embroiled in a war of its own, Pakistan’s emergence as a mediator in the war between United States-Israel and Iran is perhaps not something that could have been predicted, but equally, is a testament to the growing unpredictability in the current disruption.
Last-minute postponement of RightsCon 2026 in Lusaka, Zambia, initially scheduled for May 5–8.
There's been a lot of anguish over the past several days following the Zambian government's surprise decision to cancel Rightscon, a long-running conference devoted to digital rights that was supposed to get underway on Tuesday. The immediate narrative that spread quickly online was that China ...
Zambia Cancels RightsCon, and the Blame Game Quickly Turns to China but Evidence Points Closer to Home
There's been a lot of anguish over the past several days following the Zambian government's surprise decision to cancel Rightscon, a long-running conference devoted to digital rights that was supposed to get underway on Tuesday. The immediate narrative that spread quickly ...
More Nepalis Turn to Chinese EVs, Evading Global Fuel Shocks
By Anup Ojha As global fuel markets reel from the Middle East war, motorists in Nepal are increasingly turning to electric vehicles, with high demand putting a strain on dealerships. Electric microbus driver Purushottam ...
South Africa’s Film Sets Swap Diesel for Chinese Solar in Green Energy Shift
By Kate Bartlett Solar panels are replacing diesel generators on some major film sets in South Africa, as streaming giants come under growing pressure to clean up one of the film industry's dirtiest habits — its addiction to diesel generators. ...
China E-Mobility Weekly Digest: China EV Boom, Local Assembly and Lithium Processing Reshaping Africa, Global South Supply Chains
This is a free preview of the upcoming Africa EVs Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service. The 2026 Beijing Auto Show is underway this week, running until May 3. The rundown is highlighting pricing discrepancies between ...
Chinese Protesters Demand Cambodia Unfreeze Accounts With Scam-Linked Firm
By Suy Se Waving their national flags, dozens of Chinese nationals protested outside Cambodia's central bank on Monday, demanding the unfreezing of accounts they opened with a financial services firm linked to cyberscamming. Some demonstrators ...
Myth and Misperception: Does History of Occupation and Invasion Impact Vietnam’s China Policy?
In this edition of M&M, I want to investigate one of the biggest myths in Vietnam-China relations – historical animosity. Many Vietnam watchers based in Vietnam and abroad often argue that because of the complicated history of China’s occupation and invasion of Vietnam, Vietnam will be ...
China’s Strategy of Staying Out of Iran
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 When China and Russia vetoed the UN Security Council’s Strait of Hormuz resolution on 7 April, after weeks of increasingly plaintive calls for Beijing to “do more” over Iran, a familiar argument resurfaced: if ...
The Emerging China-Global South Energy Nexus
This month brought quietly momentous news: for the first time ever, the world’s share of renewable energy surpassed that generated by burning coal. China is one of the world’s biggest consumers of coal and is therefore partly responsible for bringing ...
The Chinese Electric Vehicle Boom Has a New Frontier, and It’s a Kenyan Cornfield
Kenyan electric vehicle innovators are harnessing Chinese EV technology to build solutions for day-to-day activities, including the country’s agriculture, the largest employer. In a small farming village in Embu County, about 130 kilometers northeast of Nairobi, a quiet experiment in ...
China Hands Over Ecuador’s Coca Codo Dam as Defects and Risks Remain Unresolved
By Julie Radomski Ten years after the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric dam first came online, the Chinese state-owned construction company Sinohydro Corporation finally turned the project over to the Ecuadorian state last Friday. Yet Ecuador only agreed to accept it ...
China and the Iran War: The Logic and Limitations of China’s Middle East Diplomacy
Immediately after the U.S. and Israeli bombardment campaign against Iran began, some have claimed that the war was “all about China.” Others have been more cautious, arguing it shows the limits of China’s relationship with Iran and its regional diplomacy. Jonathan Fulton rightly points out that the ...
Delicate Extraction: Malaysia Offers Rare Earths Alternative to China
By Jan HENNOP As workers load tons of rare earth minerals into bags ready for shipping at a refinery in eastern Malaysia, they are fueling the global pushback against China’s grip on the critical sector. ...