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The China-Global South Project

Twice-weekly discussion about China's engagement across Africa and the Global South hosted by journalist Eric Olander and Asia-Africa scholar Cobus van Staden in Johannesburg.

The China in Africa Podcast

India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told the lower house of parliament last week that "some improvement" had been made in resolving the ongoing border dispute with China. But he also cautioned that a lot more work has to be done and that it will take years to "reset" relations with Beijing.
 
The two sides have pulled back their military forces from seven points along their contested boundary in the Himalayas, so they're no longer in close proximity to one another, but those troops are nonetheless still stationed there and haven't yet been redeployed.
 
Daniel Balazs, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, is a specialist in Sino-Indian relations and joins Eric to discuss what's motivating the two countries to negotiate a border settlement.
 
JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
 X: @ChinaGSProject | @cgneema | @eric_olander | @stadenesque
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
JOIN US ON PATREON!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

[GLOBAL SOUTH] "Some Improvement" But Still a Long Way to Go to Resolve China-India Border Tensions

Donald Trump will be back in the Oval Office in just over a month after he is inaugurated for his second term as U.S. president on January 20th. While there's concern in some African capitals that Trump may scale back U.S. engagement, there's also a sense of optimism in some countries that he will shake up the system in ways that will give African leaders more access to U.S. policymakers.
 
What is certain, though, is the incoming president's national security team is very hawkish on China, and that will no doubt find its way back to the center of U.S. foreign policy towards the continent.
 
Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and one of Washington's most well-known Africa watchers, joins Géraud and Cobus to share his forecast for what the U.S. strategy towards Africa will look like in the next Trump administration.
 
JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
 X: @ChinaGSProject | @cgneema | @stadenesque
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
JOIN US ON PATREON!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Why Some African Countries Welcome Trump's Return to Power

Tensions between China and the Philippines over territorial disputes in the South China Sea flared anew in December after another confrontation at sea. Soon after two vessels collided near the contested Scarborough Shoal, representatives from both sides took to the airwaves to blame the other for the latest incident.
 
Both Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Philippines counterpart Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. have made it clear they will not concede even a single inch of territory they claim rightfully belongs to their countries.
 
Don McLain Gill, a Manila-based lecturer at De La Salle University, joins Eric to discuss why the situation going into the new year will remain very tense.
 
JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
 X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
JOIN US ON PATREON!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

[GLOBAL SOUTH] Don't Expect a Resolution to the South China Sea Crisis in 2025

Chinese President Xi Jinping surprised a lot of people last month when he made an unannounced stopover in Morocco on his way home from the G20 summit in Brazil. The North African country doesn't often come to mind when considering China's key geopolitical partners in the MENA region... which is a mistake.
 
Morocco is now a major manufacturing hub for Chinese automakers whose vehicles and parts flow directly into the European market thanks, in part, to a free trade agreement. The Kingdom is also one of the few countries in the world to have a free trade pact with both the EU and the U.S., making it especially attractive for Chinese firms who may be looking to shift production out of China to avoid the anticipated tariffs that will be imposed by the incoming Trump administration.
 
François Conradie, lead political economist at Oxford Economics Africa, joins Eric and Géraud from Casablanca to discuss why the combination of Morocco's strategic location and abundant resources is luring more Chinese engagement in the country.
 
JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
 X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
JOIN US ON PATREON!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Morocco is Now a Major Hub for Chinese Investment in Africa

2024 will be remembered as a seminal year in China-Africa relations with a rebound of Chinese lending to the continent and renewed diplomatic engagement in the run-up to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit that took place in Beijing.
 
Africa also emerged again as a centerpiece in the U.S.-China duel as leaders from both major powers visited the continent in 2024.
 
And while stakeholders in the U.S. and Europe struggle to get their businesses to see the opportunities available in Africa, Chinese firms have no such concerns as they expanded their presence this year in the mining, telecom, and automotive sectors.
 
In this year-end double episode, Eric, Cobus, & Géraud share their top three China-Africa stories of 2024 and provide a forecast for what to expect in the year ahead.
 
JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
 X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @christiangeraud
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
JOIN US ON PATREON!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

[DOUBLE EPISODE] 2024 China-Africa Year in Review

China is deeply unpopular in the U.S., UK, Japan, and most other wealthy countries, and given the politics in those regions, there's no indication that's going to change anytime soon. It's a very different story, though, in large parts of developing Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Middle East where public opinion surveys reveal generally favorable views of the Chinese.
 
A new "poll of polls" by the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) on global public opinion about China reveals a lot more nuance about how people in the Global South feel about their countries' ties with China than what is framed in the mainstream media narratives.
 
Andrew Chubb, a senior fellow at ASPI, led the project and joins Eric & Cobus to discuss what the data tells us about the diversity of views on China across the Global South.
 
JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
 X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque 
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
JOIN US ON PATREON!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Why Views About China Are So Different in the Global North and South

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi ended a four-nation Africa tour on Thursday that included stops in Namibia, the Republic of Congo, Chad, and Nigeria. Other than a $255 million railway loan deal for Nigeria, there were very few other major announcements made during the week-long trip.
 
But that's not a bad thing, according to Ovigwe Eguegu, a policy analyst at Development Reimagined. Ovigwe joins Eric, Cobus, & Géraud to explain why the consistency of the Chinese Foreign Minister's annual visit to Africa, a tradition that now dates back 35 years, is what's important.
 
JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
 X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque 
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
JOIN US ON PATREON!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Wraps Up Low Key Africa Tour

On Monday, January 20th, Donald Trump will take the oath of office and return to power as president of the United States. Trump is promising to overhaul U.S. foreign and commercial policy in what many experts believe will mark the start of a very tumultuous period — not just for the United States but also for countries around the world.
 
Sarah Shidore, director of the Global South program at the Quincy Institute in Washington, D.C. joins Eric & Cobus to discuss the impact of the coming Trump presidency on developing countries and how he expects China to respond.
 
JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
 X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque 
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
JOIN US ON PATREON!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

China and the Global South in the Trump 2.0 Era

Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the State Department, Marco Rubio, appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week as part of the confirmation process. Rubio testified for more than three hours and made it very clear that confronting China is going to be his top priority when he moves into his 7th-floor office at the State Department.
 
Africa, too, emerged as a key theme throughout Rubio's confirmation hearing, notably as a theater of competition with the Chinese.
 
Fonteh Akum, executive director of the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, joins Eric & Cobus to reflect on Rubio's confirmation hearing and what his remarks say about the new Trump foreign policy outlook for China, Africa, and the world.
 
JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
 X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque 
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
JOIN US ON PATREON!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

The World According to Marco Rubio

Donald Trump roared back into power this week, signing dozens of executive orders on his first day that upended large parts of the U.S. foreign policy agenda. The president withdrew the United States from the World Health Organization, the Paris Climate Accords and froze all new foreign aid initiatives.
 
Ronak Gopaldas, a director at the African risk intelligence service Signal Risk and a fellow at the London School of Economics, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss how the dramatic changes that took place in Washington this week impact African countries and China's diplomacy on the continent.
 
JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
 X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque 
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
JOIN US ON PATREON!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Does Trump Help or Hurt China's Diplomacy in Africa?

U.S. foreign policy towards Africa has been totally upended since Donald Trump returned to power earlier this year. Gone are the decades-old humanitarian programs that have been replaced by a new strategy that focuses on expanding U.S. commercial ties and countering China's presence on the continent.
 
The State Department's most senior diplomat for Africa, Troy Fitrell, the senior official in the Bureau of African Affairs, appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Sub-Committee on Africa this week to explain the new policy with a particular focus on how the U.S. should challenge "China's malign influence in Africa."
 
Eric, Cobus, and Geraud review Fitrell's statements on China through a point-by-point analysis, exploring whether Washington's new approach is truly fresh or merely a rehash of what previous administrations have tried to do for years in Africa vis-à-vis the Chinese.
 
JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
 X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @christiangeraud
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
JOIN US ON PATREON!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Trump's New Africa Policy Focuses on Deals... and China

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