Nepal Asks China to Wipe Away a Loan It Can’t Afford to Pay Back
August 23rd, 2024
Via New York Times, an article on how a new government in Nepal has formally asked for relief from a $216 million debt it incurred for construction of an airport in Pokhara that has been beset by problems: When Nepal’s new international airport opened last year in one of the country’s biggest cities, it was […]
Read more »Beijing to Bangkok Train Just a Few Links from Reality
August 20th, 2024
Via Asia Times, a report on a Belt and Road Initiative-backed train connecting China to mainland Southeast Asia which is finally nearly done after years of delays and resistance: A Bangkok to Beijing train journey became one clickity-clack link closer with the completion by Thailand and Laos of a Mekong River railway bridge and tracks […]
Read more »China Poised to Become Africa’s Largest Trading Partner
August 12th, 2024
Via Fair Observer, a report on how China could scoot ahead of the US this year and become Africa’s biggest trading partner: This year, China could pull ahead of the US and become Africa’s biggest trading partner, according to David Shinn, a former US ambassador to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso and an expert on Chinese–African […]
Read more »China Making Inroads In Africa: A Huge Challenge For American Hegemony
July 28th, 2024
Via Eurasia Review, commentary on China’s investment inroads in Africa: Africa has been an important trade route, has been a big market of slave trade, and had been a continent of colonization by the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the great Britain, and France from the 15th to 20th centuries. It is the second most largest continent […]
Read more »The ‘Corridorizing’ of Asia: Cooperation, Competition, and Consequences
July 25th, 2024
Via The Diplomat, an article on the intense competition, epitomized by competing “corridors,” is emerging in Asia and beyond between the U.S., China, and Russia: “Corridor” has become a ubiquitous buzzword in governance and analyst circles. To fully assess the meaning of “corridors” it is appropriate to fashion an outline of a definition. While the […]
Read more »Recharging The New Silk Axis
July 24th, 2024
Via Eurasia Review, commentary on CPEC: Approximate routes for the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). This map is for illustrative purposes only. Credit: RFE/RL CPEC is one of the significant components of the grand project BRI (Belt Road Initiative) that brings Pakistan closer to the world economy. The first phase of CPEC was to $18 […]
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.