Author: Eric Olander
Eric Olander is the co-founder of the China Global South Project (CAP), 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.
Republican Lawmakers in the U.S. Propose Yet Another Strategy to Challenge China’s Belt and Road Initiative
Three Republican legislators in the United States feel enough isn't being done to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative and want the State Department to come up with yet another plan to blunt Beijing's "debt-trap diplomacy disguised as infrastructure development" in developing countries.
Prominent Chinese Professor Explains Why the U.S., Not China is Actually to Blame for Global South Debt Distress
One of China's foremost scholars on international debt says accusations that Beijing engages in predatory lending, or "debt trap diplomacy" do not align with the facts -- and that it's actually the U.S., or more precisely the U.S. dollar, that's really to blame.
China’s Two-Pronged Auto Export Strategy: EVs to the North, Gas-Powered to the South
Analysts are forecasting Chinese automakers will ship 5 million vehicles this year, solidifying the country's position as the world's largest auto exporter. But there's a stark discrepancy in terms of what kind of cars go where, according to Michael Dunne, one ...
Chinese Flag Mysteriously Appears at Protest in Niger
Russian flags have become a regular sight among supporters of military juntas that have thrown governments across West Africa this year -- but never a Chinese flag, until now. A bright red five-star Chinese flag mysteriously appeared at a protest in ...
Days After Meeting Biden, Vietnam PM Calls for Closer Ties With China
Vietnam's legendary skills in managing the burgeoning Great Power rivalry between the U.S. and China were on full display this weekend when, just days after hosting President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính headed across the border for talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang.
South China Sea, Infrastructure Top Agenda in China-Malayasia PM Talks
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met with his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang on Sunday on the sides of the 20th China-ASEAN Expo in the southern Chinese city of Nanning. The two PMs addressed the politically sensitive issue of competing territorial claims ...
Hun Manet Meets With Xi on First Overseas Trip as Cambodian PM
Cambodia's new prime minister, Hun Manet, promised even closer ties with China during a meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday. The newly-named Cambodian leader thanked Xi for China's economic support and said he would deepen cooperation with Beijing's ...
Zambian President Returns Home From Week-Long Visit to China, No Updates on Debt Restructuring Deal
Zambian President Haikinde Hichilema returned home this weekend from a week-long trip to China that appeared to be as much about sightseeing as it was about conducting substantive diplomacy. During the last stop of his tour in Beijing on Friday, Hichilema met ...
The Downward Spiral of China-India Relations
There was a glimmer of hope last month that China and India would pull back from their increasingly contentious standoff when military commanders concluded talks along their disputed border on a somewhat optimistic note. The hope was that these talks would ...
Chinese Debt Servicing Costs Surge for Angola and Uganda
Debt servicing costs have been steadily rising across Africa, largely due to the falling value of local currencies that are used to repay dollar-denominated loans. But in Angola and Uganda, interest payments to Chinese creditors have jumped considerably in recent months ...