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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The Curious Timing of Qiu Xiaoqi’s Visit to Caracas
One of the more curious aspects of the story of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's downfall involves China's Special Envoy to Latin America, Qiu Xiaoqi, who met with the deposed leader just hours before he was detained by U.S. Special Forces. Although few ...
China Denounces U.S. Intervention in Venezuela, Casting Washington as a Global Lawbreaker
Over the weekend, the Chinese government steadily intensified its denunciations of the United States over the recent military intervention in Venezuela and the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday blasted Washington for violating Venezuela's sovereignty and said ...
Q&A: Maduro’s Fall Tests China’s Influence in Washington’s Backyard
The United States government's rationale for last Friday's military incursion into Venezuela to detain President Nicolás Maduro has evolved over the months from combating narco-terrorism to asserting control over the country's vast oil reserves. But amid the varying justifications for the intervention was a concern about China's ...
2025 China-Africa Year in Review
In this special year-end edition of The China in Africa Podcast, Eric, Cobus, and Géraud look back on the top stories of 2025 and look ahead to the key trend to watch in 2026. 📌 ...
Jane Perlez on the New Era of U.S.-China Competition and Rivalry
The increasingly acrimonious U.S.-China relationship is the defining trend of this era, upending global politics, economics, and security, especially across the Global South. Countries that have worked hard to avoid having to pick sides in this new competition may no longer ...
China’s Outsized Role in West Africa’s Illegal Resource Trade
Every year, illegal mining, fishing, and logging drain billions of dollars from West Africa's economies as the problem persists largely unchecked, with Chinese actors playing an outsized role. Fueled by chronic corruption among local regulators across the region and seemingly insatiable demand ...
What Makes China’s Foreign Aid Different
Soon after USAID was closed in February, speculation circulated that China would move quickly to fill the void left by the United States. That did not happen. While the Chinese did step in to provide ...
Alibaba Founder Jack Ma Makes Surprise Appearance in Rwanda
Jack Ma, the legendary Chinese tech mogul and founder of the e-commerce giant Alibaba, made a surprise appearance in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, on Saturday to attend the African Business Heroes awards, which he launched in the late 2010s. Ma was ...
China’s New Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Tours the Region
China's newly-appointed Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa (HoA), Hu Changchun, spent the past week visiting officials in Egypt, Eritrea, and Ethiopia as part of an introductory tour. Last month, Hu succeeded Beijing's first special envoy for the region, Xue Bing,
China Issues Forceful Defense of South Africa’s Membership in G20
The Chinese government issued a forceful endorsement of South Africa's membership in the G20, a move that will likely thwart the U.S. efforts to exclude the group's only African member state from next year's summit in Miami.
China’s Role in Africa’s Industrialization: Obstacle, Partner, or Both?
Africa’s industrialization push is colliding with the defining economic question of this era: how can any country or region climb the manufacturing value chain so long as China dominates industrial production of pretty much, well, everything?
The New Dilemma for Middle Powers Caught Between the U.S. and China
In this episode of the China Global South Podcast, Eric & Cobus unpack a major question facing middle powers everywhere: What happens when the global security architecture you relied on for decades no longer exists? Fresh from ...