China’s Vice President Han Zheng addressed the UN General Assembly on Thursday. Along with retreads of established Chinese positions on Taiwan, Ukraine, and the Israel/Palestine conflict, his comments also provided interesting clues about China’s messaging to the Global South.
First, he called on the international community to “follow the direction of a multipolar world” with the UN at its center. I wonder how opinion within Beijing’s inner circles breaks down around the bipolarity/multipolarity issue, considering ...
Category: Fishing
South China Sea’s Fish Stocks Are Running Low. China’s Fishing Ban Isn’t Helping
The South China Sea punches well above its size in terms of marine biodiversity. The semi-enclosed sea, which spans over three million kilometers, is home to 8,600 different types of marine plants and animals including tuna and mackerel, grouper, herring, and crab, and seven out ...
What Happened to Illegal Fishing Whistleblower Emmanuel Essien?
The Ghanaian news outlet GhanaWeb recently published an investigative report about the purported disappearance of Emmanuel Essien, an official for the Ghanaian Fisheries Commission. He was reportedly last seen aboard a Chinese fishing vessel Meng Xin 15 on July 5, 2019. Two ...
Small Fish Sizes in Ghana’s Waters Indicate Effects of Illegal Trawling by Chinese and Other Vessels
The latest policy from the Fisheries Commission in Ghana reveals that data from catch assessment surveys shows considerable levels of overfishing leading to a GDP decline from 1.5% in 2015 to 0.9% in 2019 due to overexploitation of the fisheries resources.
Chinese-Financed Coal Power Plants Making Life Very Difficult for Indonesia’s Coastal Communities
"It's hard to earn IDR 50,000 ($3) since the power plant is here,” said Dendi Arfani, a 26-year-old fisherman living in Teluk Sepang, a village in Indonesia's central Bengkulu Province. "It's not enough to cover our daily needs. Previously, in 2017, we could get a lot of ...
Endangered Fish Are Disappearing Around a Chinese-Owned Mini-Hydropower Plant in Indonesia
For more than five years, Swarno Lumbangaol has been trying to preserve the Batak fish (Neolissochilus thienemannie) – an endangered species found only in Indonesia’s Lake Toba and its connected rivers – in his backyard pond. The task has proven ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Unpacking Han Zheng’s Messaging to the Global South at the UN General Assembly
How Chinese Distant Fishing Is Wrecking Coastal Economies
China’s distant fishing fleet is increasingly affecting coastal economies throughout the Global South. With an estimated 17,000 vessels, China has the world’s largest distant fishing fleet. They operate in a legal grey zone, hauling thousands of tons of sea creatures from international ...
Netting Investment Flows? Why Aquaculture Has Been Slow to Catch on in Chinese Overseas Investment
By Rebecca Ray China’s demand for imported seafood is booming, projected to double by 2030. Domestically, consumer demand is primarily satisfied by aquaculture, the raising of aquatic plants and animals for food, but the sector has stagnated as the Chinese government tightened environmental regulations. Its deep-water ...
Netting Investment Flows? Why Aquaculture Has Been Slow to Catch on in Chinese Overseas Investment
By Rebecca Ray China’s demand for imported seafood is booming, projected to double by 2030. Domestically, consumer demand is primarily satisfied by aquaculture, the raising of aquatic plants and animals for food, but the sector has stagnated as the Chinese government ...
China’s Overseas Fishing Fleet and the Global South
by Chris Alden and Sérgio Chichava While much of the Western attention is focused on the grey zone activities pursued by Chinese fishing fleets and their purported role in the strategic expansion of China’s interests in the South China Sea, less ...
“Quad” Countries Launch High-Tech Plan to Track Chinese Illegal Fishing
The U.S., Japan, Australia and India, members of the "Quad," unveiled a new initiative on Tuesday that aims to monitor Chinese illegal fishing in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The new system will use satellite technology to provide tracking ...