Analysis
Diverse voices, unique insights on key issues shaping China’s engagement throughout the Global South.
analysis
What the Polls Tell Us About U.S.-China Influence Competition in Africa
Gauging China's popularity around the world is a bit like trying to find your bearings in a hall of mirrors. One survey says one thing, another says another, and in the end, we're all left scratching our heads, wondering who's right. ...
Words Come Easy, Action Does Not: China in the Context of Sudan
By Felix Brender Earlier this month, media and commentators briefly shifted their hyperfocus from conflicts that fit into an easy-to-grasp Disney-style good/bad binary to “one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory:” the consequences of the most recent round of sectarian ...
South China Sea: Litmus Test for Indonesia-China Defense Ties
On April 12, Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesman Wu Qian told the media that China intended to bolster military ties with Indonesia. Wu Qian made the remark after Indonesia’s president-elect Prabowo Subianto’s recent visit to China–the first overseas trip since Prabowo won the election in February.
Philippines Takes Delivery of Medium-Range Indian Supersonic Missiles as Both Countries Seek to Send a Message to China
The Philippine Marines are now installing four new missile batteries that arrived from India over the past few days to alter the equation in Manila's increasingly contentious duel with Beijing over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. The delivery of BrahMos ...
China Intensifies SE Asian Diplomacy Amid U.S.-Philippine Exercises
Tensions are high in the South China Sea as the Philippines kicks off its annual Balikatan joint military exercises with the United States. The opening ceremony of the three-week, 17,000-troop operation took place on Tuesday, aimed at “highlighting ironclad alliance” between Washington and Manila, according to the U.S. ...
Massive U.S.-Philippine Joint Military Exercises Get Underway With the Goal of Sending a Clear Message to China
Nearly 17,000 soldiers from four countries are mobilizing in the Philippines as part of unprecedented joint military exercises that are bound to further strain tensions with Beijing over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. The annual “Balikatan" exercises, named after the ...
All Hands-on Deck Needed for Development Finance—including China
By Tim Hirschel-Burns Many people in the development finance community migrated up the United States' eastern seaboard over the weekend. Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group Spring Meetings took place in Washington D.C., while this week ...
China’s Engagement in the Global South: Three Lessons From Fiji’s China Policing Deal Volte-Face
By Innocent Batsani-Ncube When Sitiveni Rabuka was elected Fiji's Prime Minister after a very close parliamentary vote in December 2022, expectations were high — especially in Australia and other Western capitals — that his government would make good on his election campaign commitment to ...
China, Thailand Flock to Laos’ Rivers for Electricity
Pak Beng is a small, sleepy town north of Laos. Little happens in this town except when the slow boat emerges on the Mekong River pier at six in the evening. When that happens, shops, bars, and restaurants near the pier come alive to greet arriving tourists. ...
IMF Introduces New Rules to Speed Up Debt Restructurings and Blunt Chinese Delays
The International Monetary Fund approved a new set of rules to speed up the debt restructuring process in developing countries and reduce delays in negotiating settlements with bilateral creditors that have been widely blamed on China. The new rules specifically focus on ...
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Shifts Beijing’s Diplomatic Focus From Mideast Back to Asia-Pacific
After dedicating much of the first part of the week to the escalating crisis in the Middle East following Iran's missile strike against Israel, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is now shifting his attention back to the Asia-Pacific region with a three-nation, six-day tour. ...
China Tries to Keep Iran, Saudi Arabia Relations in Balance Amid Surging Mideast Tensions
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi worked the phones on Monday in a bid to stabilize ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which are now under intense pressure following Tehran's missile attack on Israel over the weekend. Wang held separate calls with