Latest China Brief Articles
PetroKaz: China’s Difficult Search for Central Asian Energy
On October 25, a Canadian court dismissed Lukoil’s lawsuit against China National Petroleum Company (CNPC)’s purchase of Petrokaz, a firm headquartered in Canada that owns several Kazakh oil fields. Immediately after the decision, however, Nelson Resources Ltd., a Bermuda-based energy firm that is to be... MORE
China Seeks Czech Military Technology Through Europe’s Backdoor
Despite U.S. and EU embargos on the transfer of sensitive military technology to Beijing that followed the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, China continues to seek such technology through the “backdoor” from EU member-states. Government officials and various segments of business communities in certain EU... MORE
China’s 11th Five-Year Plan: A Roadmap for China’s “Harmonious Society?”
China’s 11th Five Year Plan (FYP) has laid out a grandiose roadmap for the country’s “scientific development,” a euphemism used by the country’s leadership for economic growth that takes into consideration the welfare of disadvantaged sectors as well as environmental concerns. Given the track record... MORE
More Strait Talk: Ten Years After the Taiwan Missile Crisis
On July 21, 1995, in response to Taiwan’s then-President Lee Teng-hui’s controversial visit to his alma mater in the United States, China fired a volley of nuclear-capable missiles into the sea 90 miles north of Taipei. Those were followed by more missile firings that same... MORE
China’s Pollution and its Threat to Domestic and Regional Stability
China’s environment is edging closer to a condition of crisis with each passing day. Pollution and environmental degradation have already left scars and will continue to create problems as the situation worsens. While it may be possible for China to mitigate the impact of environmental... MORE
Down the River Nile: China Gains Influence in Egypt
China has undertaken an ambitious effort to enhance its energy security and access to vital natural resources to sustain its economic growth, concluding a number of economic and trade agreements with leading oil and gas producers in the Middle East and Africa. More broadly, Beijing... MORE
SUDAN: CHINA’S OUTPOST IN AFRICA
On February 4, 1959, Sudan became the fourth African government to establish official relations with China, but no significant ties between the two emerged until mid-1990s when Beijing began its pursuit of external energy resources. By that time, Beijing had already decided to establish oil... MORE
BEIJING’S ARMS AND OIL INTERESTS IN AFRICA
If current trends continue, China will become a major player in Africa and one that may both challenge traditional Western interests and offer an alternative reading of democracy and human rights that may not benefit the average African. Growing Chinese activity on the continent thus... MORE
DUELING PRIORITIES FOR BEIJING IN THE HORN OF AFRICA
The Horn of Africa has become an increasingly important region for China. Of the five countries—Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia/Somaliland—that constitute the Horn, Sudan looms especially large. China receives 7 percent of its oil from Sudan, has invested millions in Sudan’s oil sector, and... MORE
CHINA’S SOFT POWER IN AFRICA: FROM THE “BEIJING CONSENSUS” TO HEALTH DIPLOMACY
China’s relations with Africa have steadily deepened and strengthened since the founding of “new China” in 1949. Evolving from ideologically-driven interactions during the Cold War, today’s China-Africa relations combine pragmatic economic and political means to achieve China’s objective of establishing a world order that is... MORE