Newsletter 30/April 2024

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

Towards a Diasporically Grounded Global-China Analytic

The past decade has seen a swell of economic, political, and social commentary throughout academia and the media on the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Much of this discourse reifies and reduplicates existing geopolitical biases by describing the BRI as either an ideal model of South–South cooperation or a ‘debt trap’ intended to further the People’s Republic of China’s plan for economic and ideological supremacy. Yet the view from the ground often reveals a more nuanced impact, with benefits and drawbacks to local communities within the Global South.

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 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 18/February 2023

Contents: Wird Europa zur Kriegspartei im Chip-‚Krieg’? +++ Philippinen: Kurskorrektur in Beziehungen zu Washington +++ Tauwetter zwischen Australien und China +++ Laos: Auf dem Weg zur Kolonie? +++ Nigeria: Lernt Belt&Road Public Private Partnership? +++ Myanmar: China an der Seite der Militärjunta +++  Chinesische Palmölgeschäfte in Indonesien +++ Asiatisch gelesene Stand up-Comedians +++ Quote: ‚Ground Zero’

Newsletter 7/November 2021

CONTENTS: Posts: Beijing reports boom in foreign trade / Konflikte um das Südchinesische Meer // News: Courting the Bride Africa / Under Observation by the Regional Rival / Kämpfe entlang der Seidenstraßen / Webinar: China and the World // Reviews: Patrick Bond, China’s Role in Africa’s Development / Zeitschrift ‘Wissenschaft und Frieden’: Chinas Welt? – Konflikte und Kooperation.

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.

Ethiopia: Bridgehead at Risk

Ethiopia has become one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies. The rail link between Djibouti on the Red Sea and Addis Ababa, built with Chinese credit and by Chinese companies, provides the landlocked country with a connection to the ‚Maritime Silk Road’. An escalation of the civil war, which broke out in Ethiopia’s Tigray Province in early November, would be damaging to Beijing’s plans for Africa.