Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan’s Doomed Hopes of Using China As Hedge Against Russia
December 10th, 2022
Via South China Morning Post, commentary on why Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan’s hopes of using China as hedge against Russia could be doomed: Central Asia’s increasingly tense relations with Russia have made closer ties with China attractive, but achieving that is not without its problems Far from Beijing proving a hedge against Moscow, the opportunities on […]
Read more »Thriving on China’s BRI, Laos Border Town Ditches Kip for Yuan
December 7th, 2022
Courtesy of NikkeiAsia, a report on how one Laotian town is thriving due to a BRI-funded railway connection: If you want to eat in the northern Lao town of Boten on the border with China, you better have some yuan on you. Boten is one of the cities that have been so changed by China’s […]
Read more »Djibouti Suspends Chinese and Other Loan Repayments
December 7th, 2022
Via South China Morning Post, a look at Djibouti’s – the strategically important Horn of Africa nation which is struggling under mounting financing pressures – recent decision to suspend loan repayments Djibouti – the tiny nation at the intersection of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden where China has vast commercial and military interests […]
Read more »China-Africa Relations in Review
December 7th, 2022
Via Geopolitical Monitor, a detailed look at China’s relationship with Africa: “China did this,” “the Chinese did that.” There is an essentialization of China and Chinese actors that hinders our understanding of China-Africa relations – whether to praise or demonize them – as it lumps a multiplicity of approaches, as well as actors, into a […]
Read more »Mongolia Puts Faith In Chinese Railway To Boost Covid-Battered Economy
November 29th, 2022
Courtesy of The Financial Times, an article on Mongolia’s hopes that a Chinese railway will help boost its Covid-battered economy: Mongolia opened a new rail line to China on Friday that the landlocked country’s prime minister said would help it weather the zero-Covid controls that have disrupted cross-border trade with its powerful neighbour. “The opening of […]
Read more »Vietnam Urged To Get China-Backed Railway Project On Track
November 22nd, 2022
Courtesy of the South China Morning Post, an article on Vietnam being urged to get China-backed railway project on track and avoid ‘missed opportunities’ despite concerns: For the past seven years, the name of a Vietnamese railway project has appeared in every diplomatic joint statement and declaration between Beijing and Hanoi. But so far, it […]
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.