Category: Development
Construction of Controversial Chinese-Backed Canal Gets Underway in Cambodia
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet led a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday for the $1.7 billion Funan Techo Canal that will be partially financed through a public-private partnership with the China Road and Bridge Corporation. When finished, the new 180km canal will connect the ...
A New Leader Takes Power in Vietnam. His First Order of Business? Go to China
Vietnam's new paramount leader, Communist Party General Secretary Tô Lâm, will reportedly travel to China on Monday, just two days after the former Public Security Minister and current President was named to the country's most powerful political position. Lâm's appointment was widely ...
Cambodia PM Launches Chinese-Backed Canal Linking Mekong River to Sea
By Suy Se Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet on Monday launched a controversial $1.7 billion canal project that aims to provide a new link from the Mekong River to the sea. At a launch event ...
Why Green Energy Will Likely Feature Prominently at FOCAC 2024
In December 2023, a glimpse of the future of Africa-China relations quietly debuted in rural Limpopo Province, South Africa. The University of Venda unveiled its new Confucius Institute. That part isn’t new – even as the state-supported Mandarin-language institutes face increasing pressure in the Global North, ...
Falling Through the Net? The Perils of Relying on Central Bank Swaps for Global Crisis Finance
By Laurissa Mühlich, Thomas Goda, and Marina Zucker-Marques Since the 2008 global financial crisis, central bank swaps have emerged as an increasingly important pillar of the Global Financial Safety Net (GFSN), the network of institutions and arrangements that aim at ...
Cambodia Looks to ‘Breathe’ With Controversial New Canal
By Suy Se Dust covers everything in Lim Tong Eng's yard, thrown up by excavators toiling next door to enlarge a channel that Cambodia's government hopes will soon be a major shipping canal. Next month, ...
Cambodia Shifts $1.7 Billion Project to Majority Cambodian Ownership Amid Concerns Over Chinese Influence
This article is authored by Han Noy and Sim Chansamnang, both freelance journalists based in Cambodia. In June, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet announced that Cambodians would control 51% of the controversial Funan Techo Canal. Previously, Chinese investors owned the ...
Indonesia and China Explore Transportation Collaboration Beyond Electric Vehicles
This article is co-authored by Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, Director of the China-Indonesia Desk at the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS), and Yeta Purnama, researcher at CELIOS. In recent years, Indonesia has become more interested in deepening transportation ties ...
China Builds New Presidential Palace in Pacific’s Vanuatu
The government of cash-strapped Vanuatu will soon settle into a suite of new buildings funded by China, a move likely to reignite concerns about Beijing's reach in the South Pacific nation. At an official handover ceremony conducted in front of a ...
Unlocking Africa’s Clean Energy Potential With Prefeasibility Funding
By Tsitsi Musasike, Jiaqi Lu, Adjekai Adjei, and Kevin P. Gallagher The second decade of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) promises to be bigger, better, and, importantly, greener. According to the Chinese Loans ...
Peru Moves to Resolve Port Dispute Ahead of President’s Meeting With Xi Jinping
The Peruvian government formally withdrew its legal petition to block Chinese shipping giant Cosco from having exclusive rights to operate the new Chancay "mega port" that's near completion. The move marks a sharp reversal from its position in March when it ...
Graph of the Day: The Fall in Chinese Infrastructure Funding in Southeast Asia
A new report by the Australian research body the Lowy Institute maps a sharp decline in Chinese infrastructure funding to Southeast Asia, partly due to the COVID pandemic. However, the authors said "ongoing projects mean Beijing looks set to remain the dominant infrastructure financier in the region." ...