China Joins the Andean Table: What Beijing’s Observer Status at the CAN Means

In late September 2025, the Andean Community (CAN, for its acronym in Spanish) granted observer status to China, marking Beijing’s latest diplomatic advance into a sub-regional body of Latin America and the Caribbean. Access to the CAN is part of ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

How to Lure Chinese Financing Back to the Global South: Report

Global South countries face increasing financing pressure, endangering their ability to keep developing while also implementing measures to deal with a growing climate crisis. The disruption of global trade is coupled with a larger megatrend: flows of international capital to the developing world have turned negative. This means that countries are now routinely paying more to service loans than they receive in disbursements.

The vast majority of Global South borrowers ...

Cambodia Deepens China Defense Ties at Xiangshan Forum

Cambodia deepened defense ties with China and opened talks with regional counterparts at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, China. Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tea Seiha addressed the conference and held a meeting with China’s defense minister. Seiha ...

Don’t Expect Concrete Results From the SCO Summit – That’s Not the Point

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is gearing up for its annual summit on Sunday, and the same old criticisms are resurfacing: too big, too divided, too vague. And there’s truth to that. What started as a six-member organization in 2001 (consisting ...

Belt and Road Forum Concludes as Geopolitical Clouds Gather

The Belt and Road Forum has wrapped up with an eye-watering list of new initiatives and events, and commitments. Some of these are strikingly vague and/or abstract and working out exactly what they entail will take a while. What is notable ...

Kevin Gallagher’s Key Takeaways From the Belt & Road Forum

Boston University Global Development Policy Center Director Kevin Gallagher was one of only a handful of U.S. stakeholders invited to participate in the Belt and Road Forum that just wrapped up in Beijing. Kevin joined CGSP Editor-in-Chief Eric Olander for a ...

Xi’s Speed Diplomacy on the Sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum

Xi Jinping’s presence at the Belt and Road Forum was dominated by his keynote address during which he announced a raft of new initiatives. However, he also engaged in speedy rounds of bilateral meetings and hosted a banquet on Tuesday night. ...