A bill currently under consideration in New York State could reshape sovereign debt renegotiations around the world by making private creditors accept the same losses as the U.S. government would as a sovereign creditor instead of holding out for a full payback.
The bill comes as countries like Zambia and Sri Lanka face their loan renegotiations being dragged out for years as U.S.-based private lenders stonewall to obtain better deals. 52% of the ...
Analysis
Diverse voices, unique insights on key issues shaping China’s engagement throughout the Global South.
What Happened in New York is a Reminder Climate Change Isn’t Just a Global South Problem
By Lukas Fiala Looking out the window of my hotel room in New York City this week, I couldn’t help but feel a certain apocalyptic reckoning. Due to raging wildfires in Canada, the city that’s home to the world’s most ...
Proposed New York Law Could Reshape Debt Negotiations Around the World
A bill currently under consideration in New York State could reshape sovereign debt renegotiations around the world by making private creditors accept the same losses as the U.S. government would as a sovereign creditor instead of holding out for a full payback.
Endangered Fish Are Disappearing Around a Chinese-Owned Mini-Hydropower Plant in Indonesia
For more than five years, Swarno Lumbangaol has been trying to preserve the Batak fish (Neolissochilus thienemannie) – an endangered species found only in Indonesia’s Lake Toba and its connected rivers – in his backyard pond. The task has proven ...
Southeast Asia’s Climate Goals Are Ultimately Economic Goals: U.S. Vows to Help, But China Delivers
Two weeks ago, Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his ministers received a visit from the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council (U.S.-ABC). Green industries — particularly electric vehicles — were at the top of Indonesia’s talking points. “How can Indonesia get facilities to ...
Maritime Tensions Surge in Western Pacific Amid Drills and Provocations by Some of the World’s Largest Navies
The South Korean Air Force scrambled fighter jets on Tuesday after two squadrons of Russian and Chinese military aircraft entered its air defense zone, the latest incursion across another country's international boundary by rival militaries operating in very close proximity in the Western Pacific.
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Proposed New York Law Could Reshape Debt Negotiations Around the World
DRC Government Tries to Reframe Underwhelming Beijing Visit
Félix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, left for a trip to Beijing last week amid sky-high expectations of both new deals and the significant reworking of current agreements widely seen in his country as favoring Chinese actors. None of this happened.
Why Are DRC Officials Backtracking on Tshisekedi’s Beijing Trip?
We asked China Global South Francophone Africa Editor and DRC political analyst Geraud Neema to explain attempts by DRC officials to reframe President Félix Tshisekedi's lackluster trip to Beijing. Why were the ministers so emphatic that they didn't go to China ...
Prioritizing Socio-Ecological Protections: Study Shows Deregulation Doesn’t Attract Chinese Investment
By Christina Duran In a March 2023 synthetic report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasized that Central and South America face adverse impacts from increased climate damage “without rapid, deep and sustained mitigation and accelerated adaptation action,” which ...
BRICS FM Gathering Ends With Few Specifics Other Than a Renewed Appeal for Multipolarity
A two-day gathering in Cape Town of representatives from the five founding members of the BRICS group joined by foreign ministers from ten other major developing countries ended on Friday with a sweeping joint statement that called for a rebalancing of the global order away from the ...
China’s Complicated Involvement in Afghanistan’s Extractive Industry
During the 18-19 May China-Central Asia summit, President Xi Jinping pledged to “continue to help the Afghan people maintain security and stability and realize peace and reconstruction. We will work together to build a Central Asia that features no conflict.” While accepting the good tidings, the ...
TRANSLATION: Deaths, Work Accidents, Busting Unions, Criminalization: The Fate of Indonesian and Chinese Workers in the Gunbuster Nickel Industry
The following is a summary translation of an article on Project Multatuli, written by journalist Permata Adinda, on the plights of nickel workers at Chinese-owned nickel firm Gunbuster Nickel Industry (GNI) in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. At about ten in the evening ...
Taiwan’s ‘Look South’ Policy Aims to Reduce Dependency on China
By Felix Brender Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s administration launched the New Southbound Policy (NSP, 新南向政策) in late 2016, ostensibly to reduce dependence on China. The NSP is impressive in its scope (trade collaboration, talent exchange, resource sharing, and regional connectivity) and ...
Russia’s Foreign Minister Arrives in Cape Town for BRICS Meeting, Qin Gang a No Show
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar arrived in Cape Town on Wednesday to participate in this week's planning meeting for the upcoming BRICS leaders summit in August. Qin Gang, China's foreign minister, will be noticeably absent, with ...
Argentina Scores $924 Million in Deals from China
Argentina’s Economy Minister Sergio Massa managed to secure almost a billion dollars' worth of investment deals on the first leg of his trip to China. He is on an economic rescue mission, with talks expected to renew and extend a currency ...
Q&A: Indonesian, Chinese Nickel Workers Struggle With Racial Tension, But Must Tread Path to Solidarity
This year opened with a clash that erupted between Indonesian and Chinese workers at Gunbuster Nickel Industry (GNI), a Chinese-owned nickel processing plant in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, claiming lives from each side. It’s tempting to count the clash as evidence ...