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

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

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