Author: Eric Olander
Eric Olander is the co-founder of the China Global South Project, an independent, non-partisan media initiative dedicated to exploring every facet of China’s engagement in Africa. Eric is a fluent Mandarin-speaker and a longtime China-watcher with more than 25 years of journalism experience at many of the world’s leading media companies, including CNN, the BBC, and FRANCE24, among others. He received his undergraduate degree in East African History from the University of California at Berkeley and holds a master’s degree in Chinese Public Affairs from the University of Hong Kong.
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China’s Rapid Response to Myanmar Quake Contrasts With U.S. Absence
China moved quickly this weekend to respond to the devastating earthquake in neighboring Myanmar that killed at least 1,700 people. More than 200 emergency personnel from across China along with dozens of others from Hong Kong and the Chinese Red Cross Society were ...
Seoul Announces Rare Top Trade Meeting With Tokyo, Beijing
Top trade officials from South Korea, Japan, and China will meet this weekend in Seoul to discuss economic cooperation, a South Korean government source said Friday. The rare meeting—the first in five years—was announced days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced ...
South Africa’s Active Yet Unequal Trade With China
From afar, the China-South Africa trade relationship looks amazing. Last year, the two countries sold more than $52 billion worth of goods to one another — mostly raw materials from South Africa and finished goods from China.
Chinese Export Surge is Destroying Millions of Jobs Across the Global South
From Mexico to Malaysia, countries across the Global South are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with a massive surge of Chinese exports that are undercutting local producers and prompting mass lay-offs. Indonesia's textile and apparel industry lost a quarter a million ...
China’s CMOC Group Announces Strong Earnings as Market is Split Over DRC’s Cobalt Export Ban
The world's largest cobalt producer, China's CMOC Group, announced record earnings for 2024 with net income jumping 64% to $1.9 billion, well above analyst estimates. These results are particularly impressive given the fact that cobalt prices hovered near record lows last ...
Geely is the Latest Chinese Auto Major to Enter the Vietnamese Market
Geely joins a rapidly growing number of Chinese auto brands targeting Vietnam's growing middle class. The Chinese automaker officially unveiled three new models, both gas and electric-powered, at a launch event in Hanoi last week. The company is also planning to ...
While They May Have Their Differences at Sea, on Land, Vietnamese and Chinese Border Guards Get Along Great
Chinese and Vietnamese border soldiers conducted joint patrols last week along their shared land border near the northern Vietnamese province of Hà Giang. Officers from both armies also met to discuss increased cooperation to prevent illegal crossings, smuggling, and other issues. What's ...
Trump is Helping China, Japan, and South Korea to Look Beyond Historical Rivalries — But They’re Still Working Out the Details
Japan, South Korea, and China agreed Saturday that peace on the Korean Peninsula was a shared responsibility, according to Seoul’s foreign minister. The three countries' top diplomats met in Tokyo and pledged to increase cooperation, deepen trade ties, and restated their goal of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: Chinese Mining Disaster in Zambia
Millions of Zambians along the Kafue River are coming to grips with the devastating environmental impact brought about by a massive acid spill from a Chinese-run copper mine. A tailings dam broke on February 18th, sending 50 million liters of toxic ...
China, Africa and the Post-American World
During his Senate confirmation, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denounced the so-called "liberal international order" that he said was obsolete and no longer working for the United States. Since he and his boss, President Donald Trump, took office eight weeks ...
Dismantling U.S. Influence: China Watches as Washington Walks Away
It was another head-spinning weekend trying to absorb the magnitude of the changes taking place in Washington. Just as you're reading about the closure of U.S. state-funded media outlet Voice of America and its sister outlets, you learn that another U.S. Congressionally-funded think tank, the venerable Wilson ...
Chinese Communist Party Celebrates Closure of Voice America, Washington’s “Factory of Lies”
The Chinese Communist Party (CPC) seemingly rejoiced on Monday over the surprise announcement that the United States would shutter all of its state-funded international media operations, most notably Voice of America and Radio Free Asia which were both staunchly critical of the CPC and the Chinese government. ...