The China-Global South Podcast The China-Global South Project

Former Cambodian strongman Hun Sen was in Beijing last week lobbying the Chinese government to move forward with the $1.7 billion Funan Techo Canal project which his son, President Hun Manet, has made the centerpiece of his new administration.
The new canal would connect Phnom Penh's inland port to Kep province on the Gulf of Thailand, creating a new transport link for Cambodia's garment and agricultural exporters, among others.
However, the project is also raising concerns in neighboring Vietnam. Officials there are worried the new canal will divert water from the fragile lower Mekong Delta ecosystem, which provides a vital lifeline for millions of farmers. The Vietnamese also stand to lose a lot of business and are concerned about the potential security implications of the new canal.
Jack Brook, an independent journalist based in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, recently wrote about the canal for a story published in Nikkei Asia and joins Eric to explain why this project is generating so much controversy.
SHOW NOTES:
Nikkei Asia: Cambodia to divert Mekong trade via China-built canal, vexing Vietnam by Jack Brook: https://tinyurl.com/25j2fv3t The China-Global South Project: Q&A: How Cambodia’s Chinese-backed Funan Techo Canal Risks Destabilizing the Lower Mekong Delta: https://tinyurl.com/2adfcr3w JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
X: @ChinaGSProject | @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @leixing77
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
JOIN US ON PATREON!
Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Enthusiasm for electric vehicles is waning in both the U.S. and China, but that is definitely not the case in other parts of the world where EV adoption rates are steadily rising. In fact, at the Bangkok Motor Show this week, Chinese EV brands are grabbing all of the attention.
Throughout the Global South, Chinese EV brands are expanding their presence in both manufacturing and sales. And unlike U.S.-made EVs that are largely expensive luxury vehicles, the Chinese brands are focusing on small, affordable cars that are within the price range of consumers in Asia, Africa and Latin America, among other places.
Lei Xing, a longtime China automotive journalist and host of the China EVs & More Podcast, joins Eric to discuss why Chinese automakers are looking to developing countries to drive EV sales.
SHOW NOTES:
Subscribe to the China EVs & More Podcast: https://tinyurl.com/27enl2qb JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
X: @ChinaGSProject | @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @leixing77
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
JOIN US ON PATREON!
Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth
 

U.S. and European officials often lament that they've fallen behind China when it comes to engaging Africa, Asia, the Americas, and other developing regions. Western governments aren't set up to rapidly deploy the kind of money and resources that Beijing's done with its Belt and Road Initiative over the past ten years.

While the U.S. and Europe are now trying to catch up, author Jeremy Garlick writes in his new book Advantage China: Agent of Change in an Era of Global Disruption that their efforts are hamstrung not only by money but also by history.

Jeremy joins Eric & Cobus to explain why he thinks China's political system provides key systemic advantages over its Western rivals when it comes to engaging the Global South.
Show Notes:
Amazon: Advantage China: Agent of Change in an Era of Global Disruption by Jeremy Garlick: https://bit.ly/4cj2Nh7 JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
X: @ChinaGSProject | @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @jeremy_garlick
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
JOIN US ON PATREON!
Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth
 

The escalating tensions between China, the Philippines, and the United States in the South China Sea highlight how Southeast Asia is now the most dangerous frontline in the burgeoning Great Power competition between Beijing and Washington.
But as this week's ASEAN summit in Australia highlights, there is no consensus in the region over how the Southeast Asian bloc's 11 member states are responding to the rapidly changing geopolitical environment.
This week, Eric spoke with Prashanth Parameswaran, a highly regarded analyst on Southeast Asian affairs and founder of the widely-read ASEAN Wonk newsletter, for some perspective on how different countries across the region are positioning themselves in this new era.
Show Notes:
Subscribe to the ASEAN Wonk newsletter on Substack: https://www.aseanwonk.com Subscribe to the Sinica Podcast newsletter on Substack: https://sinica.substack.com JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
X: @ChinaGSProject | @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @aseanwonk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
JOIN US ON PATREON!
Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

A lot of EV consumers bought new battery-powered cars in the hope it would be better for the environment than a vehicle with a conventional internal combustion engine that runs on fossil fuels. By some measures, that's no doubt true.
But many of these early adopters are also unaware their supposedly "green" cars aren't quite as carbon neutral as promised and that there are serious labor and human rights problems related to the metals used to manufacture the batteries that power those EVs.
Krista Shennum, a climate and human rights researcher at Climate Rights International, joins Cobus & Antonia to discuss the situation in Indonesia where Chinese mining companies dominate the all-important nickel sector that's rife with labor and environmental abuses.
SHOW NOTES:
Climate Rights International: Nickel Unearthed -- The Human and Climate Costs of Indonesia's Nickel Industry: https://cri.org/reports/nickel-unearthed/ JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
X: @ChinaGSProject | @stadenesque | @eric_olander 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
JOIN US ON PATREON!
Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Editor's Note: we're sharing this bonus episode of the China in Africa Podcast given that the topic is so relevant for our audience interested in China-Global South issues.
Academics and think tank analysts, predominantly in the U.S. and Europe, spend a lot of time debating whether it's appropriate to use the nomenclature "Global South" to describe developing countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, among other regions.
In those regions, it's actually less of an issue where framings like "South-South" are commonplace. The use of the word "South" doesn't seem to be as sensitive an issue as it is for those observers in the "Global North."
This week, Jorge Heine, a research professor at Boston University and former Chilean ambassador to South Africa, India and China, joins Eric & Cobus to give a passionate defense of the "Global South" and why he feels it's more important than ever now to embrace the concept.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
X: @ChinaGSProject | @stadenesque | @kristashennum | @timmerman91
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
JOIN US ON PATREON!
Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth