The following extract is from an important study published 1 September 2020 by the highly respected medical journal, The Lancet. The article provides a key to understanding the response to reducing global carbon emissions in terms of environmental justice. It … Continue reading Quantifying national responsibility for excess global CO2 emissions
Shared from: Learning from China, Published by John Ross, Senior Fellow, Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China. The article was written in the context of the COP26 UN climate change conference in November 2021. Ross argues that the … Continue reading Why advanced countries must proportionately make the biggest cuts in carbon emissions – a factual briefing
A joint study by Columbia University (in US) and Oxford University (in UK) refutes claims of Chinese “debt-trap diplomacy” in Africa, and highlights that debt owed to European bondholders is a bigger contributor to debt. In fact: Chinese entities account for only 8% (US$78 billion) of sub-Saharan Africa’s government debt (US$954 billion) and 18% of total external debt, of which ⅓ was owed to bilateral official partners, ⅓ to international financial institutions, and ⅓ in Eurobonds. The study – by Harry Verhoeven from the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, and Nicolas Lippolis from the Department of Politics … Continue reading Chinese debt traps in Africa? No, most African debt owed to Western bondholders: says new research
“Since the beginning of the 2018 US-China trade war, Western countries have sought to decouple from China in terms of economic, technological, and people-to-people exchanges. According to Cheng Yawen, the recent Russian-Ukrainian conflict marks the end of the US-led globalization wave. Facing the possibility of full decoupling by the West in the future, China urgently needs to make a new choice in its diplomatic and strategic priorities to downgrade the importance of Europe and the US and to promote a new international system based on South-South cooperation.” Chinese Voices The following article by Professor Cheng Yawen from the School of … Continue reading Building the “New Three Rings”: China’s choice in the face of possible complete decoupling
Doubts regarding the Belt and Road Initiative are both counterfactual and counterproductive Sholto Byrnes writing in the United Arab Emirates newspaper The National looks at at the nature of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), revisiting an August 2020 report by the UK’s leading international affairs think tank Chatham House, titled Debunking the Myth of ‘Debt-trap Diplomacy’. Contrary to Western view, the Belt and Road Initiative is not some form of Chinese “offensive”, much less an insidious instrument of Chinese expansionism. Bashing China has become part of what currently passes for political debate in the US, with Donald Trump regularly accusing Joe Biden either … Continue reading Why criticisms of BRI are nothing more than Chinese whispers
Rapid climate warming has caused water imbalances in the Third Pole region, leading to greater water demand in densely populated downstream countries, according to a new study. With the largest global store of frozen water after the Antarctic and Arctic, the Third Pole region, located in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is home to headwaters of over ten major Asian rivers. It has been known as the “Asian Water Tower” for providing a reliable water supply to almost 2 billion people. But an article published this week in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment says that the region has gotten out … Continue reading Water imbalance in Third Pole to pose “great challenge to water resources in downstream regions” – scientists
China is willing to make joint efforts with Timor-Leste to push their bilateral comprehensive cooperative partnership to a higher level, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday when meeting with President of Timor-Leste Jose Ramos-Horta in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste. Noting that China supports Timor-Leste’s active participation in regional affairs, Wang said that the country looks forward to Timor-Leste joining the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at an early date and becoming a member of the Asian family. Ramos-Horta said that Timor-Leste is full of confidence and expectation for the future of bilateral relations. China’s development … Continue reading Wang Yi: China ready to make BRI cooperation plan with Timor-Leste
The five BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – agreed to deepen strategic cooperation with the evolution of the international landscape. China says BRICS should act as the stabilizer for the current situation and a booster for development. The BRICS sherpas (see note below) have agreed to further strengthen solidarity and cooperation to address multiple challenges the globe is currently facing, including the Covid-19 pandemic and economic recovery. The pledge came as the second BRICS sherpas’ meeting in 2022 was held from Tuesday to Wednesday through a videolink, Xinhua news agency reported. The meeting was chaired … Continue reading BRICS countries agree to strengthen collaboration to address global challenges
A new government vision document sets Paris-aligned and time-bound plan for China’s overseas investment, going beyond all the ‘guidances’ released so far. On 28 March, China published a policy document on further greening the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It is the third policy document on this theme issued by the government in less than a year, so one can be excused for finding it difficult to keep up. The new document – “Opinions on Jointly Promoting Green Development of the Belt and Road” (English translation) – was jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, and the ministries … Continue reading China says ‘Belt and Road must align with Paris Agreement’
The Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Railway (HSR) in Indonesia is landmark project of the Belt and Road Initiative and China-Indonesia cooperation, as well as a national strategic project of Indonesia. With a design speed of 350 km per hour, the Southeast Asia’s first high-speed railway, built with Chinese technology, will cut the journey between Jakarta and Bandung, the capital of West Java Province, from more than three hours to around 40 minutes. The longest tunnel of the Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Railway (HSR) in Indonesia was cut through on Friday afternoon, posing a major success in the joint railway project.The Jakarta-Bandung High … Continue reading Longest tunnel of Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Railway dug through