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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What the Past Tells Us About the Future of the BRI
There's a widely-held perception in many parts of the U.S., Europe, and India that debt and geopolitics have led to the demise of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). But a landmark new study from AidData proves otherwise, revealing not only ...
Hal Brands on the Politics of “America’s Absurd Pledge to Defend a Decaying Rust Bucket”
The confrontation between China and the Philippines over disputed territory in the South China Sea is getting very little attention in the United States, where everyone is much more focused on the war in Gaza and former President Donald Trump's ongoing trial in New York.
Truckers Strike Paralyzes Chinese Copper/Cobalt Shipments From the DR Congo
Truckers in the DR Congo have brought the all-important copper and cobalt trade to a standstill over their refusal to drive unless logistics firms pay an additional $700 risk allowance fee. The strike that began late last month has now ...
Why Rock Bottom Prices for EV Battery Metals Bolsters China’s Longterm Strategy to Dominate Critical Minerals
South Africa's Impala Platinum announced voluntary buyouts this week in a bid to cut costs as the mining company grapples with persistently low metal prices. With the price of palladium down 40% this year and platinum off 14%, the challenge facing Impala ...
Chinese Infrastructure Projects in Africa Don’t Meet ESG Standards
Two years ago, China introduced a series of new so-called "green guidelines" that it hoped would promote more sustainable development abroad. But in Africa, according to a new research report, it appears those higher environmental, social, and ...
Biden Renews Debt Trap Allegation Against China Even Though the Charge Has Been Widely Debunked
U.S. President Joe Biden resurfaced the widely discredited debt trap accusation against China as part of a larger effort to differentiate Washington's economic engagement strategy in the Western Hemisphere from that of Beijing's. The president made the claim on Friday during his ...
All it Takes is a Simple Google Search to Confirm the China Debt Trap Meme Isn’t Real
President Joe Biden's latest reference to Chinese "debt traps" is part of a broader pattern among high-level U.S. legislative, government and military officials to level the charge against China's lending practices. It's odd that they continue to make the claim since it's been ...
Biden is Caught Between a Shoal and a Hard Place
U.S. President Joe Biden was unequivocal last month when he reaffirmed his commitment to defend the Philippines from an armed attack by Chinese naval forces in the South China Sea. "Any attack on Filipino aircraft, vessels, or armed forces will invoke ...
The U.S. Response to China’s Dominance of African Critical Minerals
Bloomberg correspondent Matthew Hill hosts a compelling eight minute mini-documentary on how the United States is now starting to mount a response to China's dominance of certain sectors of Africa's critical minerals supply chain.
New Documentary Humanizes the China-Africa Relationship
Eat Bitter is a new documentary making the rounds of the international film festival circuit that tells the story of two men, one from China and the other from the Central African Republic (CAR), who work on opposite ends of the ...
China’s Maritime Dispute With the Philippines is Primarily a Problem With the U.S., Says Professor
The surge in maritime tensions between the Philippines and China that began in February is largely due to the United States instigating its ally in Manila, according to Wu Shicun, director of the South China Sea Research Center at Xiamen University. ...
China Dismisses U.S. Trade Rep’s Moves to Build Alternate Critical Mineral Supply Chains
The Communist Party of China (CPC) said any efforts by the U.S. and its partners to reduce their dependence on Chinese critical resources used to manufacture electric vehicle batteries is "futile and will backfire." The CPC's typically acerbic comments came ...