The Belt and Road Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Trans-Himalayan Power Corridors: A Grounded Analysis of Nepal/China relations - Dr. Galen Murton Apr 21, 2020

Show notes

On this episode, Erik and Juliet speak with Dr. Galen Murton - Assistant Professor at the School of Integrated Sciences at James Madison University - about how China is establishing infrastructure across one of the most unforgiving landscapes in the world. Along the border between Nepal and Tibet, transport and energy infrastructure development are transforming lives and forging a new paradigm of geopolitical engagement between China and its South Asian neighbors.
1) “Trans-Himalayan Power Corridors: Infrastructural Politics and China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Nepal."
2) “Facing the Fence: The Production and Performance of a Himalayan Border in Global Contexts.”
Recommendations:
Galen - Anything written about Nepal by Sam Cowan and Broughton Coburn
Juliet - Asymmetrical Neighbors: Borderland State Building between China and Southeast Asia by Enze Han
Erik - Wilmington's Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy by David Zucchino

Thanks for listening!

Connectivity in the Time of COVID-19: Johan van de Ven on BRI Country Responses Mar 30, 2020

Show notes

In the rapidly evolving context of a world impacted by the novel corona virus, Johan van de Ven discusses travel bans, material aid and donations, and border restrictions between China and Belt and Road Initiative partner countries. He focuses particularly on incidents of anti-Chinese discrimination in Moscow, material assistance to China given by countries from Thailand to Turkey, and stalls in Chinese infrastructural projects abroad.
Check out Johan's articles in the Jamestown Foundation's China Brief:
- Fair Weather Friends: The Impact of the Coronavirus on the Strategic Partnership between Russia and China?
- Limited Payoffs: What have BRI Investments Delivered for China Amid the Coronavirus Outbreak?
Recommendations:
Johan: Panda Paw Dragon Claw's recent article, "Railpolitik: the strengths and pitfalls of Chinese-financed African Railways", Chinese Storytellers Newsletter, and for de-stressing: Parks and Recreation
Juliet: Naomi Klein’s Coronavirus Capitalism video
Erik: Whistleblower: My journey to Silicon Valley and Justice at Uber by Susan Fowler, Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller, and for de-stressing: Curb Your Enthusiasm's latest season

Thanks for listening!

Protests & Diplomacy in Central Asia: Shifting Roles of China, Russia, and Europe - Oyuna Baldakova Mar 17, 2020

Show notes

Oyuna Baldakova, a PhD Candidate at the Free University of Berlin, shares her research on Chinese investment and Belt and Road developments in Russia (Lake Baikal, Siberia) and Central Asia. She explores how conflicting interests among local elites and domestic political leaders have fueled anti-Chinese sentiments and protests against BRI projects, as well as the implications of China's involvement in Central Asia for European diplomacy in the region.
Our discussion is based on her two articles on the MERICS Blog:
- Protests along the BRI: China's prestige project meets growing resistance
- China's Central Asian connection
Recommendations:
Oyuna:
- China's Western Horizon by Daniel Markey
- Song of the Tree (Film)
Erik:
- Inclusive Development International's tools for navigating engagement with the AIIB
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Film)
Juliet:
- Social Contagion: Microbiological Class War in China on the Chuangcn.org blog

Thanks for listening!

Cross-Continental Connections: Disconnects and Mismatches along the China-Europe Freight Train Initiative - Dr. Linda Tjia Feb 14, 2020

Show notes

Prof. Dr. Linda Tjia explains the costs and benefits, the links and disconnects, and the domestic and global implications of the China-Europe Freight Train Initiative which connects multiple areas of Western China through Central Asia all the way to Europe. Having worked in the railway sector before her academic career, Linda walks Erik and Juliet through Chongqing business dealings with HP, trade imbalances and "empty return trains" between China and Europe, and the logistical and political challenges of navigating new rail paths through Central Asia.
Our conversation is based on Prof. Tjia's recently published article, "The Unintended and Undesirable Consequences of the Politicization of the Belt and Road's China-Europe Freight Train Initiative"

Recommendations
Juliet
Great Games, Local Rules: The New Great Power Contest in Central Asia by Alexander Cooley
Erik
China Renews its "Belt and Road" Push for Global Sway by Keith Bradsher
and Douban.com (the Chinese social networking service website that allows registered users to record information and create content related to film, books, music, recent events, and activities in Chinese cities.) which I've been enjoying recently!
Linda
Asymmetry and International Relationships by Dr. Brently Womack

Thanks for listening!

China and the Taming of the Mighty Mekong - Brian Eyler Jan 24, 2020

Show notes

Juliet discusses the book "Last Days of the Mighty Mekong" with author Brian Eyler, Senior Fellow and Director of The Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia Program. Brian shares insights into the development politics of China's (and other countries') hydropower dam construction, the environmental impacts of dams, and the resulting shifts in the day-to-day reality of lives of communities living in along the river. His book is based on over a decade living and traveling along the Mekong River, and documents a watershed moment of change in one of the most culturally vibrant and biologically important river systems in the world.
Get yourself a copy of Brian's book, Last Days of the Mighty Mekong
And check out our recommendations:
Brian: Richard Powers' The Overstory
Juliet: Milton Osborne's The Mekong: Turbulent Past, Uncertain Future (see also a review on Brian's blog East by Southeast)

Thanks for listening!

Still Outsourcing Coal But Striving for Solar: Chinese Energy Investments in Cambodia - Lili pike Jan 09, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, Erik talks with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellow at NYU Journalism Institute - Lili Pikeabout China's involvement in Cambodia's energy sector, including an incredible story of a private Chinese furniture manufacturer who bought a closed-down 600MW dirty coal plant from a Chinese SOE and is now moving it piece by piece to Cambodia
Read Lili's China Dialogue articles here:
1. Coal plant deemed too polluting for China heads to Cambodia

2. In Cambodia, solar power surges

Lili's Recommendations:
1. The Belt and Road Podcast - Courtney Weatherby and Mark Grimsditch episodes
2. China's Superbank: Debt, Oil and Influence - How China Development Bank is Rewriting the Rules of Finance
3. Under Red Skies: Three Generations of Life, Loss and Hope in China by Karoline Kan
Erik's Recommendations:
1. The Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ
2. The film "Marriage Story"

Thanks for listening!

More Friends, Fewer Funds Along the BRI - Cecilia Joy-Perez Dec 10, 2019

Show notes

More and more countries have signed on to China's Belt and Road Initiative, but "the increase in political partners has not led to a comparable increase in commercial activity." Cecilia Joy Perez discusses contracting amounts of capital invested along the BRI despite expanding formal participation, which she attributes to shrinking foreign exchange reserves and shifts in the sectors most actively targeted by BRI investments.
Based on Cecilia's recent article, "The Belt and Road Initiative Adds More Partners, But Beijing Has Fewer Dollars to Spend" in The Jamestown Foundation's China Brief.

And check out our recommendations for this week:
Cecilia: 1) China Global Investment Tracker 2) Princess Mononoke the film
Juliet: "Rare Earth Frontiers" by Julie Klinger
Erik: 1) Clientelism at work? A case study of Kenyan Standard Gauge Railway project by Yuan Wang & Uwe Wissenbach 2) Parasite the film

Thanks for listening!

View From the Provinces: How Sub-National Politics Fuel Transnational Networks - Tim Summers Nov 13, 2019

Show notes

Breaking from a dominant focus on national and international scales, Dr. Tim Summers discusses how the Belt and Road works through sub-national institutions, builds upon regional scale development models, and uses provincial trade and political networks within China to expand abroad. Dr. Tim Summers is faculty at the Chinese University of Hong Kong's Centre for China Studies.
Check out Tim's articles on the Belt and Road:
1. China’s ‘New Silk Roads’: sub-national regions and networks of global political economy
2. The Belt and Road Initiative in Southwest China: responses from Yunnan province
And our recommendations this week:
Tim
Yan XueTong's new book, "Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers."

Juliet
American Factory: a 2019 American documentary film about Chinese company Fuyao’s factory in Moraine, a suburb of Dayton, Ohio, that occupies a shuttered General Motors plant.
Also check out Dr. Summers' books: China’s Hong Kong: the Politics of a Global City (2019), China’s Regions in an Era of Globalization (2018) and Yunnan – A Chinese Bridgehead to Asia (2013), and journal articles on subjects including the belt and road initiative (BRI), China’s maritime disputes, China and global governance, and Hong Kong.

Thanks for listening!

Chinese Investment Through the Eyes of Mozambique's Elites - Lauren Baker Nov 03, 2019

Show notes

On this episode of the Belt and Road Podcast, Erik Myxter-iino speaks with former MacroPolo Summer Associate Lauren Baker - about her article that looks at differing opinions of governmental and non-governmental elite opinion of Chinese investment in Mozambique.
Read Lauren's article "Bridging Perceptions: China in Mozambique " here: https://macropolo.org/analysis/china-mozambique-elite-perceptions/
Recommendations:
Lauren - The entire MacroPolo website, and subscribe to their newsletter
Erik - MacroPolo's Anecdotes video series
2) Decarbonizing the Belt and Road: A Green Financing Roadmap

3) The Farewell

Thanks for listening!

Soy and Sinophobia: China's Place in Brazilian Agribusiness - Gustavo Oliveira Oct 21, 2019

Show notes

On episode 19, Dr. Gustavo Oliveira talks about Chinese agribusiness investments in Brazil, the rising importance of the soy trade between the two countries, and the ways domestic and international business interests have fanned the flames of Sinophobia for strategic gains. Dr. Oliveira is a Brazilian scholar and activist and an Assistant Professor of Global & International Studies at University of California, Irvine.
Check out Dr. Oliveira's other work on Chinese investments in Brazil and more: http://faculty.sites.uci.edu/oliveira/

Thanks for listening!

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