This week on Sinica, I'm joined by Eric Olander, host of the outstanding China in Africa Podcast and the indispensable China-Global South Podcast, and creator of the China-Global South Project. Eric's detailed and very current knowledge of China's relations across the developing world is on display in this whirlwind tour that takes us from the troubled waters of the South China Sea to China's diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, on to Subsaharan Africa and how Washington has struggled to create policies that can match what China offers, and to Latin America. He then zooms out and talks about what it all means in aggregate. Don't miss this show!

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2:39 The situation with the Philippines and the Second Thomas Shoal, and the U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty — the potential challenges in activating it on the U.S. side and President Marcos’ changing standards for invoking it 

15:50 ASEAN’s difficulty in reaching consensus, and Myanmar as another ASEAN priority  

18:53 China’s role as convener in brokering a “unity deal” for Palestine

23:02 The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) 

30:20 Why Africa is so hard to fit onto the U.S. foreign policy agenda and the lack of a forward-looking American vision for Africa 

37:56 Geraud Neema’s disappointment with Washington’s talk about battery metals and critical minerals

42:22 The pushback from Mexico’s finance minister and Mexico’s concern over the growing number of imports from China

46:48 The trade surplus number and long-term concerns for China’s exports 

49:35 Brazilian President Lula hints at willingness to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) 

51:51 How it all fits together, and how China has leveraged the Global South’s frustration over the U.S.-European-led international order 

Recommendations:

Eric: Matt Pottinger’s The Boiling Moat: Urgent Steps to Defend Taiwan, and Anne Stevenson-Yang’s Wild Ride: A Short History of the Opening and Closing of the Chinese Economy

Kaiser: Will Durant’s books from The Story of Civilization, especially The Age of Faith and The Reformation, as well as the audiobook versions read by Stefan Rudnicki 

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