China’s Digital Silk Road Initiative: A Boon for Developing Countries or a Danger to Freedom?
December 17th, 2020
Via The Diplomat, commentary on China’s Digital Silk Road initiative: As part of China’s massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Beijing launched the Digital Silk Road (DSR) in 2015 with a loose mandate. It has since become a significant part of Beijing’s overall BRI strategy, under which China provides aid, political support, and other assistance to […]
Read more »Buckling Down: China Rethinks Xi’s ‘Project Of The Century’
December 16th, 2020
Courtesy of The Financial Times, an article on how Chinese overseas lending has fallen sharply amid a reassessment of the Belt and Road Initiative: It has not taken long for the wheels to come off the Belt and Road Initiative. As recently as May 2017, China’s leader Xi Jinping stood in Beijing before a hall of nearly 30 heads […]
Read more »India Gaining Foothold In Central Asia As Iran’s Chabahar Port Attracts New Foreign Partners
December 14th, 2020
Via Eurasian Times, an article on the Chabahar Port which is close to Pakistan’s Gwadar Port that is being developed by China as part of its China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which links it to the Indian Ocean through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): Chabahar port is back in the news as India, Uzbekistan, and Iran are […]
Read more »China’s Footprints in Kazakhstan’s Oil and Gas Industry
December 12th, 2020
Via The Diplomat, an article on Beijing’s pursuit of shifting its trade and energy dependencies from sea to land: In the long term, Kazakhstan is the most important partner for China’s strategic priority to shift trade and energy dependence from sea to land. Both sides are enthusiastic about deepening cooperation, especially in trade. But an overwhelming […]
Read more »China and Afghanistan In A Belt & Road Context
December 11th, 2020
Via Asia Power Watch, an article on China’s economic influence in Afghanistan in a Belt & Road context: As the historic intra-Afghan negotiations continue and the withdrawal of US troops is now in sight, there are plausible concerns about the future of Afghanistan, especially about China’s willingness to expand and consolidate its engagement in the country. […]
Read more »China Diversifies in Central Asia
November 30th, 2020
Via Eurasianet.com, a look at how Beijing has adopted a new economic model for Central Asia, investing less in major infrastructure and spreading its risk: Roads, pipelines, coal-fired power plants: not so much anymore. Beijing has changed course. It now rarely funds major infrastructure projects in Central Asia. Instead the People’s Republic has shifted to manufacturing: […]
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.