Analysis
Diverse voices, unique insights on key issues shaping China’s engagement throughout the Global South.
analysis
U.S.-Philippine Talks Amid Rising China Tensions
The president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., met with U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday amid rising tensions with China in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea. Security cooperation topped the agenda in the form of shared defense guidelines and equipment, as ...
The More We Get Together: Benefits of Cofinancing Development Projects in the Global South
By Cecilia Springer The Global South faces major financing gaps for achieving sustainable development goals. At the same time, the main infrastructure initiatives seeking to fill these gaps - China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the US-led Partnership for Global Infrastructure ...
China’s Groundhog Day in Sudan
After decades of diplomatic, economic, and security engagement in Africa, the ongoing fighting in Sudan may well remind Beijing of the 1990s classic in which TV weatherman Bill Murray covers the annual Groundhog Day in a small town in Pennsylvania, only to be forced to relive the ...
New Afrobarometer Polling Shows Both China and the U.S. Losing Popularity in Africa
Both China and the United States are becoming less popular in Africa. This was the main finding of a preliminary release of new opinion survey data from the Africa-focused polling company Afrobarometer. The full details of the poll haven’t been released yet, ...
China’s Role in Kenya’s Unfolding Economic Calamity
There's growing speculation among international investors that Kenya is now poised to become the next African country to default on its debt. The markets worry about how Kenya will remain solvent in the face of three converging trends that are making ...
New Boston University Report Challenges Chinese Debt Trap Meme That’s Still Popular With U.S. Government Officials
Researchers at Boston University's Global Development Policy Center did not mince words in a report published this week, in which they stated that "debt trap diplomacy is not a driver of Chinese lending and overseas development finance." For anyone who follows ...
Chinese Nationals Evacuated As Sudan Enters Shaky Ceasefire
A 72-hour ceasefire started in Sudan on Monday night, the third so far in the deadly conflict that broke out ten days ago. As Sudanese keep struggling with disrupted water, electricity, and internet services, the first group of Chinese nationals was evacuated to neighboring countries. ...
Shifting Trade Winds between China and Latin America and the Caribbean as Free Trade Agreement Negotiations Progress
By Rebecca Ray and Zara C. Albright In 2022, the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region’s trade deficit in goods with China grew to a record 1.4 percent of regional GDP, as both sides of the relationship experienced uneven growth rebounds ...
The U.S.-China Cobalt Test in the DR Congo
There's a lot of talk these days in Washington policy circles about the urgent need for the United States to "de-risk" or "de-couple" itself from Chinese supply chains needed to manufacture batteries required to power the green mobility revolution. A lot ...
How Are We to Understand China’s International Partnerships?
By Lukas Fiala The visit of China’s newly minted defense minister, Li Shangfu, to Russia over the past week resulted in the usual diplomatic overtures. As Li reportedly put it: ‘We have very strong ties. They surpass the military-political alliances of ...
CMOC Deal Signals A New Moment in China-DRC Relations, With Possible Global Impacts
Shares in China Molybdenum (aka CMOC) jumped by 10% in Shanghai and 12% in Hong Kong on the news that the mining giant reached a deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo that will allow it to resume copper and cobalt exports from the Tenke Fungurume mine, one of ...
Unpacking the CMOC Deal: What Do We Know So Far?
The newly-announced deal between the Chinese mining giant CMOC and the DRC’s state mining company Gécamines is raising many questions. We asked our Francophone editor Christian-Géraud Neema, who is also an expert on DRC mining, to clue us in: WHAT DO ...