Why Xi Jinping Chose Central Asia for His First Post-COVID-19 Trip
September 18th, 2022
Via Foreign Policy, a report on why Xi Jinping chose Central Asia for his first post-COVID-19 trip and how the region has long served as a testing ground for Beijing’s economic and foreign-policy ambitions: Chinese President Xi Jinping’s decision to make Central Asia the site of his first foreign visit since the coronavirus pandemic began is […]
Read more »Russia Says Pipeline To China Will Replace Nord Stream 2
September 16th, 2022
Via Oil & Gas Daily, an article on Russia’s decision to build a new pipeline to China to replace Nord Stream 2: A Russian pipeline to China will replace the Nord Stream 2 gas link to Europe, abandoned amid the Ukraine conflict, Moscow’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Thursday. Asked in an interview with Russian television […]
Read more »Trial Run for China-Afghan Rail Corridor
September 15th, 2022
Via The Diplomat, an article on the trial period for the new China-Afghan rail corridor: A trial period of three months will see freight trains from China deliver goods to Afghanistan via Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Exports of Afghan goods will follow the same routeback to China. This new railway corridor commenced its trial run on September 13 when […]
Read more »Extension Of CPEC To Afghanistan Could Link Infrastructure Across Continent
September 14th, 2022
Via The Third Pole, a report on the likelihood that road and rail projects will be extended to Afghanistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: Once the highway becomes a motorway, trucking supplies to Afghanistan will become much faster,” said Shakir Afridi, president of the transport union for Khyber district, in northwest Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Afridi […]
Read more »Lithium Monopoly in the Making? Beijing Expands in the Lithium Triangle
September 7th, 2022
Via Geopolitical Monitor, a report on China’s growing engagement in the “Lithium Triangle”: China aims to expand its influence in the “Lithium Triangle” as a component of a broader campaign to construct a near-monopoly in the global lithium market. The Lithium Triangle, comprising Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile, accounts for approximately 56% percent of global lithium supply. Beijing’s […]
Read more »BRI: An Old Belt Being Pushed Aside?
September 7th, 2022
Via The Diplomat, a look at how the BRI is becoming less and less prominent in Chinese leaders’ speeches as the Global Development Initiative takes over: Nearly a decade after its launch, the Belt and Road Initiative – what was once nicknamed the “project of the century” – is slowly vanishing from Chinese leaders’ speeches. […]
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.