Contents: Towards a Diasporically Grounded Global-China Analytic +++ ‚Bäumchen wechselt euch’ in der Mekong-Region +++ Pakistan: Leck geschlagenes Flaggschiff CPEC +++ Freie Bahn für Modernisierung der TAZARA ++++ Öffentliche Meinung in Südostasien: Advantage China +++ Readings: Global Civil Society and China +++ Blog Roll update: Latinoamérica Sustentable (LAS) +++ EJAtlas +++ Global China Map is back +++ Quote: China in Africa
Category Archives: Civil Society
Newsletter 28/February 2024
Content: New Scramble for Africa +++ Belt&Road entwächst den Kinderschuhen +++ Asymmetrische Militarisierung +++ Limited Autonomy of Chinese NGOs abroad +++ Ups and Downs: Zivilgesellschaft in Afrika und Lateinamerika verstärkt den Druck +++ Readings: Globalising the Chinese working class struggles +++ Dramatische Veränderungen bei Belt&Road +++ Update Blogroll: Chinese in Africa / Africans in China +++ China in Africa +++ Quote: Competition and Conflict
Newsletter 24/September 2023
Contents: IMEC: Geopolitik mit Wirtschaftskorridoren +++ G20 und das Tauziehen um den Globalen Süden +++ Just another BRICS in the Wall +++ Update: Ten years of BRI: Guests by surprise +++ Danke, Flugbereitschaft! +++ Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Under Scrutiny +++ Kritische Menschenrechtsbilanz kritischer Mineralien +++ Historisches Referendum in Ecuador +++ Eisenerz aus Westafrika statt aus Australien +++ Readings: Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment 2023 +++ A Decade of the Belt and Road Initiative +++ Quote: Africa’s rising clout
Newsletter 21/June 2023
Contents: Hindernisse auf der Seidenstraße +++ Schuldzuweisungen in der Schuldenkrise +++ Europeans consider economic relationship with China as bearing more benefits than risks +++ „The Future of Geopolitics Will Be Decided by 6 Swing States“ +++ Chinese Investments and Labour Struggles in Indonesia +++ Internationale Solidarität aufbauen! +++ Cambodia: Benefits and Costs of participation in BRI +++ „Guardians of the Belt and Road“ +++ The risks and rewards of economic sanctions +++ Preparing for or preventing war with China
Newsletter 20/May 2023
Contents: Taiwan: One finger at the button will be German ++++ UN-Menschenrechtsrat fordert Beendigung einseitig verhängter Sanktionen +++ ‚Lula’ da Silva in Beijing +++ ‚Entthronung’ des US-Dollar? +++ Geopolitischer Hotpot im Südchinesischen Meer +++ Civil Society Dialogue in the Context of the Belt and Road Initiative +++ Frisches Geld für Erdölpipeline in Ostafrika +++ Guinea: Joint venture for the world’s largest iron ore mine +++ Wie Beijing die Schuldenkrise managen will +++ China’s Overseas Investment in the Belt and Road Era +++ Quote: China-USA: Hand outstretched or PR?
Newsletter 19/March 2023
Contents: AUKUS: Rabiater Aufrüstungsschub im Pazifik +++ NATO’s Geostrategic Interests Towards China +++ Competing Peacemakers in Ethiopia +++ Grassroots mobilisation: Piraeus versus COSCO +++ Pakistan: Blame game around Chinese mine +++ Indonesien: Kosten des ‚Grünen Kapitalismus’ +++ Schuldenkrise: Welcome to the Club, Beijing! +++ Lesehinweise: „The Chinese ‚Debt-Trap’ is a Myth“+++ China in Africa: The Alternative
Newsletter 16/October 2022
CONTENTS: Posts: Upgrade for Belt&Road to BRI 3.0? / The Dance Around China’s Overseas Projects // News: Russland und China bauen Brücken in Fernost / Mongolei: Kooperation mit Skylla und Charybdis // Countercurrents: China-Watch / Environmental Justice Atlas / Internationale Solidarität mit ‚Riders’ in China // Reviews: Redefining Asia as ‚Indo-Pacific’
Newsletter 11/March 2022
CONTENTS: Blog Posts: Europe’s Global Gateway / Russia-Ukraine: Can China do mediation? / Merry-go-round in South Asia // News: Rückzug aus russischem Gas – und China? / Überraschungsgast aus Beijing in Delhi // Protests: Kampagne gegen Erdöl aus Ostafrika / Bananen für China aus Kambodscha // Literature: Russo-Ukrainian War and China’s Choice
The risk of workers’ unrest
“Who built the seven-gated Thebes?” asks Bertold Brecht’s ‘reading worker’, “in the books are the names of kings.” In the case of the Silk Roads, Chinese workers are at least mentioned, but in most cases with the comment that they were displacing local workers. Labour conditions and trade union rights, on the other hand, feature hardly at all in the debates on Chinese projects and companies. But here there are risks that could jeopardise the whole BRI venture.
International Endeavours of Chinese NGOs
The international exposure of Chinese NGOs is not a recent phenomenon. Starting in the late 1970s, China reopened its doors to INGOs and other international organisations, which have since supported the development of a large number of Chinese NGOs. What is new today is that we are starting to see Chinese NGOs branching out of China and acting as donors and partners to organisations in developing countries. However, there remain several key challenges.