China Got a Big Contract. Nepal Got Debt and a Pricey Airport.
October 16th, 2023
Courtesy of The New York Times, a report on Nepal’s new airport at Pokhara, which insiders suggest revals the pitfalls of China’s infrastructure-at-any-cost model: On a sweltering June morning, the new international terminal at the airport in Pokhara, Nepal’s second-biggest city, roared to life with the arrival of a Sichuan Airlines flight from China. A […]
Read more »As Belt and Road Forum Convenes, Time to Rethink Narratives on China’s Economic Coercion
October 16th, 2023
Via The Diplomat, commentary on the need to rethink the usual narratives on Chinese economic coercion, and the related anxieties about its ability to weaponize trade, given that China hasn’t been particularly good at it: After a hiatus since 2019, Beijing will host its third Belt and Road Forum on October 17 and 18. China […]
Read more »China’s Promise of Prosperity Brought Laos Debt — and Distress
October 14th, 2023
Via The Washington Post, an article on Laos’ economy, pushed into distress by BRI infrastructure loans: At speeds of almost 100 miles an hour, the Chinese-built train zips over the Mekong River and careers through dozens of newly bored tunnels as it travels north from the capital. At its last stop, near the Chinese border, […]
Read more »China Vows Belt and Road Ramp Up Despite Debt-Trap Criticism
October 10th, 2023
Via Nikkei Asia, a report on China’s renewed BRI pledge which comes as Xi Jinping’s globe-spanning infrastructure blitz turns decade old: China on Tuesday said it will ramp up the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as it turns a decade old, snubbing criticism that the globe-spanning investment blitz is a debt trap for developing nations. […]
Read more »US Raises Concern With Peru Over Chinese Control of Infrastructure
October 9th, 2023
Courtesy of The Financial Times, an article on U.S. concern with Chinese control over Peruvian infrastructure such as the power supply to Lima and a megaport serving Pacific Cosco at Chancay, 70km north of Lima, that will be capable of berthing some of the world’s largest cargo ships: The US has expressed concern to Peru […]
Read more »China’s Belt and Road Shows the High Price of Beijing’s Money
October 4th, 2023
Via Bloomberg, commentary on the high price of the BRI: Birthdays are in equal parts celebratory but also inherently tinged with regret, for opportunities missed and mistakes made. All of which may well be weighing on Beijing as its Belt and Road Initiative marks its 10th anniversary this year. For the most part, it has […]
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.