China’s Got Afghan Fever, Again
April 30th, 2023
Courtesy of Foreign Policy, a look at China’s renewed interest in Afghanistan’s mineral riches: China, once again, seems to be mucking about in Afghanistan’s mineral-rich playground. The latest move is a maybe, could-be deal worth billions to tap Afghanistan’s rich veins of lithium, the key input for the energy transition that powers everything from laptops […]
Read more »China Holds Upper Hand in Battle With U.S. For Africa’s Energy
April 28th, 2023
Via Nikkei Asia, an article on how China holds upper hand in battle with U.S. for Africa’s energy: Power generation has become the latest battleground in the China-U.S. competition in Africa, giving resource-poor countries a chance to seek more project funding. Beijing’s investments in energy infrastructure have expanded greatly, while the U.S. has launched a […]
Read more »First “French Postal Express” Freight Train Left Chengdu for Europe
April 27th, 2023
Via New SilkRoad Discovery, a report on the first “French Postal Express” freight train from Chengdu to Europe: On April 26, the first “French Postal Express” China-Europe freight train was launched at the Chengdu International Railway Port in Sichuan and is expected to arrive in Europe in 14 days. This is also the first time […]
Read more »Laos Is Not in a Chinese ‘Debt Trap’ – But It Is in Trouble
April 27th, 2023
Via The Diplomat, a report on Laos, which is disturbingly reliant on investment from China – and no one knows how much, or under what terms: China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) turns 10 this year. Much ink has been spilled, digitally and otherwise, about the global infrastructure project. The “debt-trap diplomacy” claims that arose […]
Read more »What Russia’s First Gas Pipeline to China Reveals About a Planned Second One
April 25th, 2023
Via the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a report on how Russia is now in a far worse negotiating position regarding a gas pipeline to China than in 2014, finding itself at the mercy of a monopsonist buyer: A key topic of discussion during the Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Moscow was the […]
Read more »China Unveils ‘Grandiose Plan’ for Central Asia
April 18th, 2023
Via the Jamestown Foundation, a look at China’s forthcoming ‘Grandiose Plan’ for Central Asia: In the three decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation and China have pursued divergent interests in post-Soviet Central Asia, as Moscow seeks to retain its influence even as Beijing’s “soft power” grows, underpinned by its dynamic […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.