While most of the world's attention at this week's Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin was on Xi Jinping's meetings with leaders from the big powers, namely India and Russia, the Chinese President also spent considerable time with heads of state from many of the world's smallest countries, like the Maldives and Nepal, among others.

This is part of China's longstanding small-state diplomacy strategy, where Beijing cultivates relationships with these countries in the Global South through high-level gatherings and the same diplomatic pomp that leaders from more powerful countries receive when they visit the Chinese capital.

Alonso Illueca, CGSP's non-resident fellow for Latin America, joins Eric to discuss his latest article on how China's small-state outreach is playing out on the tiny Caribbean island of Dominica (population 75,000) and why it's so effective.

SHOW NOTES:

• The China-Global South Project: Small State, Big Gains: Why Dominica Matters in China’s Global Strategy by Alonso Illueca
• The China-Global South Project: In Bolivia, China’s Lithium Extraction Plans Went to the Polls and Lost Badly by Alonso Illueca

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