China Monitor 2010

Oil, Energy and Power in Sino-Angolan Relations

Issue 54 – August 2010

The China Monitor for August 2010 focuses on the nature, depth and dynamics of the Angola-China relationship, focusing in particular on the oil connection.

For the Commentary piece Ana Alves, research fellow in the South African Institute of International Affairs’ China in Africa Project, sets the scene by reviewing at length the recent history and anatomy of Chinese oil interests in the African country.

In the Policy Watch, Jesse Ovadia, affiliated to York University in Toronto, Canada, provides an interpretation of the implications of China’s involvement in Angola’s oil industry against the backdrop of the Asian power’s wider foreign policy pursuits.

The Monitor subsequently tracks China’s local and international business news as well as China’s interaction with Africa over the past month.

Download Issue 54 of the China Monitor here.

Chinese communities outside of Asia: Tracing the Chinese Diaspora

Issue 53 – July 2010

The China Monitor for July 2010 focuses on the phenomenon of the Chinese diaspora, a movement of people and culture that has seen Chinese communities grow up in many parts of the world outside Asia.

The Commentary piece introduces the migration of Chinese communities to Europe from a historical perspective. In her commentary, Prof Li Minghuan, eminent sociologist at Xiamen University in Fujian Province, China, reviews the origins and developments of the Chinese diaspora in Western (and more recently Eastern) Europe.

In the Policy Watch, an analysis is offered of the emergence of Chinese communities in South Africa. Dr. Yoon Park, senior researcher in the Centre for Sociological Research at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa discusses the features of South Africa’s primary Chinese communities. This feature is accompanied by a special Insight interview with Peter Tam by Elizabeth Schickerling, research intern at the CCS. Mr. Tam is patriarch and owner of the Tam family corporation in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province, who trace their business roots back more than a century.

The Monitor subsequently tracks China’s local and international business news as well as China’s interaction with Africa over the past month.

Read the full  CCS China Monitor – Issue 53 – July 2010 here.

The Emerging Politics of the Emerging Powers: The BRICs and the Global South

Issue 52 – June 2010

The China Monitor for June 2010 explores the role of the BRICs and their significance for the Global South, particularly the African continent.

The Commentary piece outlines the main features of the BRICs. In a short commentary, Prof Timothy Shaw of the Institute for International Relations at the University of the West Indies poses the question whether the BRICs have the potential to act as a cohesive unit (as a bloc) and what this could imply for international politics and economics.

In the Policy Watch, an analysis is offered of the relations between two major constituents of the BRICs edifice – China and Latin America. Prof Lilliana Avendãno Miranda of the International Business Faculty at Verucruzana University in Mexico reviews the shifting ties between China and Latin American countries and discusses their implications.

The Monitor subsequently tracks China’s local and international business news as well as China’s interaction with Africa over the past month.

Download PDF – China Monitor – Issue 52 – June 2010

Oil & Diplomacy in the Maghreb Region

Issue 51 – May 2010

The China Monitor for May 2010 examines the evolving relations between China and North African states.

The Commentary piece is by Khalid Hilal, an independent consultant from Morocco. He examines the historical and contemporary relations between China and three North African states: Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

The Policy Watch piece is by Gys Hough, a junior research analyst at the Centre for Chinese Studies , Stellenbosch University. His piece explores the relations between China and Libya with a particular focus on the oil extraction industry in the latter.

The Monitor subsequently tracks China’s local and international business news as well as China’s interaction with Africa over the past month.

Download PDF – China Monitor – Issue 51 – May 2010

Infrastructural Partnerships in Economic Development: Development from the Ground Up?

Issue 50 – April 2010

The China Monitor for April 2010 examines the relatively low levels of infrastructural development in Africa as an obstacle to economic growth.

The Commentary piece is by Suzanne van Keulen, a post-graduate student at the Graduate School for Social Sciences in Amsterdam. She provides an overview of China’s public and private investments in infrastructure in Tanzania, investigating some of the consequences these have had for economic development in that country.

The Policy Watch piece is by Sanne Mars-van der Lugt, a Research Analyst at the Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University. Her piece explores the role of Chinese investment in infrastructural projects in promoting regional integration and contributing to economic growth in Africa.

The Monitor subsequently tracks China’s local and international business news as well as China’s interaction with Africa over the past month.

Download PDF – China Monitor – Issue 50 – April 2010