China in the Americas: Recent Episodes
Rasheed Griffith
A podcast exploring the growing economic, political and social relationships between China and the Americas. Hosted by Rasheed Griffith.
In this episode, Rasheed talks to Ethan Knecht about free trade agreements and investments of China in other countries. Exchanging thoughts and opinions regarding the Panama Canal dispute and diplomatic relationships between MERCOSUR and China.
LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Fireside Chat on Latin America with General Laura Richardson
CONNECT WITH ETHAN KNECHT:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ethan.knecht/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethan-knecht/
CONNECT RASHEED GRIFFITH:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/rasheedguo
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rasheed-griffith-cams-74b501206/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode, Rasheed talks to Bryce Barros, Nathan Kohlenberg, and Etienne Soula about their report about China’s influence over the digital information environment outside of its borders.
LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- China and the Digital Informations Stack in the Global South
CONNECT WITH BRYCE, NATHAN, AND ETIENNE:
- Bryce Barros
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/barros_bryce
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brycecbarros/
- Nathan Kohlenberg
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/nkohlenberg
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathankohlenberg/
- Etienne Soula
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/etiennesoula
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/etienne-soula/
CONNECT RASHEED GRIFFITH:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/rasheedguo
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rasheed-griffith-cams-74b501206/
To China or the market? Why borrow from a Private lender instead of China? In this episode, Rasheed talks to Federico Sequeda about why international US-based commercial creditors invest in Caribbean bond markets.
Federico Sequeda is Head of Country Research and Portfolio Manager for the Emerging Markets Team at Eaton Vance. Eaton Vance is a part of Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
Key Points Include:
- Fundamental Debt Metrics
- Why governments may prefer private financing over concessionary loans
- Do Chinese loans crowd out private creditors
- What are the data challenges in investing in emerging markets
- Creditor committee views on IMF structural adjustment programs
Resources Mentioned in this Episode
- The Human Freedom Index (Fraser Economic Freedom Index, as heard in the episode)
I recommend pairing this Episode 28 on the Legal Dynamics of Sovereign Debt Markets
Connect with Federico Sequeda
Connect with Rasheed Griffith
- Twitter: @rasheedguo
The Republic of Panama officially recognized the People's Republic of China in 2017. Ever since then, there has been a constant parade of op-eds from think tanks about the potential risk of China's advance in Central America. We are joined by Sebastian Naranjo, a PhD candidate at Renmin University in Beijing and an Asia Desk Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Panamá, to seek some truth from facts on this issue.
- Why did Panamá cut diplomatic relations with Taiwan in favor of the PRC?
- How central is the canal to politics in Panamá?
- What tangible projects has the PRC assisted with in Panamá?
- How relevant is Chinese culture in the daily lives on Panamanians?
- Has Panama's relations with the USA soured in any way since 2017?
We discussed these questions and more!
Recommendations:
- Panamá y China: Una relación de tres siglos (Berta Alicia Chen)
- La Ruta de la Seda y Panamá (Eddie Tapiero)
IMF Structural Adjustment Programs; Private Creditor Committees; Chinese bilateral loan contracts; Activist Hedge Funds; Paris Club vs China Development Bank.
In foreign policy circles there is so much talk about Chinese bilateral loans in Latin America and the Caribbean (and globally). But there seems to be little understanding of the dynamics sovereign debt markets which have important players like private investors and the International Monetary Fund. To discuss all of this we are joined by Thomas Laryea.
Thomas formerly served as Assistant General Counsel at the International Monetary Fund, where he was responsible for the IMF’s legal relations in finance and economic surveillance with each of its member countries. Since moving into private practice, Thomas has advised on several recent high-profile sovereign debt restructurings including Argentina, Belize, and Suriname.
U.S Foreign Policy in the Caribbean seldom contemplates Monetary Policy. Domestic currencies in the Caribbean pervert economic freedom. Rather than being seen as economic imperialism, the spread of United States Dollars in the Caribbean should be seen as the spread of economic freedom. I am joined by Dr. DeLisle Worrell, former Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados to discuss why all Caribbean currencies should be permanently retired in favor of adopting the USD as the sole currency throughout the region. We also discuss the potential of Chinese RMB internationalisation in the Caribbean.
Further reading: The Time Has Come to Permanently Retire All Our Caribbean Currencies by Dr. Worrell
Message/Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo (for more information on China in the Americas topics)
Music: Night Nurse by Gregory Isaacs
In this episode I am joined by Ethan Knecht (author of The China-LAC Dispatch) and Mitch Hayes (author of The China Signal) for a roundtable discussion on what we think were the top stories of 2021 as it relates to China-Latin America & the Caribbean relations.
Message/Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo (for more information on China in the Americas topics)
Music: Silver Tongue Devil by Masego ft. Shenseea
Following the 2018 arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou 孟晚舟 on extradition charges to the USA, the political relationship of Canada and China has entered a "Deep Freeze" (as stated by David Mulroney, former Canadian Ambassador to China). In retaliation Chinese authorities arrested two Canadians in China; one of them recently sentenced to 11 years in jail. Earlier this year Canadian parliament declared that the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjing, China amounts to "genocide". What is the current landscape of Sino-Canadian relations and where can the two countries go from here?
This episode features Prof. Gordon Houlden: Director Emeritus China Institute, a Professor of Political Science, and an Adjunct Professor of the Alberta School of Business at the University of Alberta. Professor Houlden joined the Canadian Foreign Service in 1976, serving in Ottawa and abroad. Twenty-two of his years in the Canadian Foreign Service were spent working on Chinese economic, trade and political affairs for the Government of Canada, including five postings in China. His last assignment before joining the University of Alberta in 2008 was as Director General of the East Asian Bureau of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
Show Notes
- China in the Canadian Arctic
- Meng WanZhou Extradition case
- Canadian sentenced to 11 years in jail in China
- Chinese Ambassador to Canada interview
Message/Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo (for more information on China in the Americas topics)
Outro Music: Northwest Passage by Stan Rogers
How should the embassies of small states be structured to optimize their economic return in relation to China? This episode features Dr. Chelston Brathwaite, Barbados's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China (2014-2017). Prior to that, Dr. Brathwaite served as the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
Show Notes
- Dr. Brathwaite's recently published memoirs- Memories of China: My Eleventh Defining Moment
Message/Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo (for more info on China in the Americas topics)
Outro Music: Hit It by The Mighty Gabby
Earlier this year China published a white paper on its new approach to International Development Finance. Our guest, Stella Zhang, described this white paper as a "landmark document" in Chinese foreign policy. We discuss the implications of the document along with the nuances of how Chinese firms currently approach international contracting projects and financing. How will these firms operate differently going forward? How will Latin America and Caribbean countries capitalize on China's more explicit signaling of its willingness to assist with economic growth and development?
Hong (Stella) Zhang is a PhD candidate at George Mason University. Her research interests include China’s role in international development, the internationalization of China’s development state, and the overseas expansion of China’s state-owned enterprises. She had worked for five years as an overseas correspondent with China’s Caixin Media in London and Washington D.C.
Follow Stella on Twitter @StellaHongZhang
Show Notes
- China’s Manifesto for Leadership in Global Development by Stella Hong Zhang
- The Aid-Contracting Nexus: The role of the international contracting industry in China's overseas development engagements by Stella Hong Zhang
- Roundtable: Will the G7’s B3W Initiative change the game of global infrastructure development?
- 程诚：《“一带一路”中非发展合作新模式：“造血金融”如何改变非洲》
Message/Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo (for more info on China in the Americas topics)
Outro Music: La Dueña del Swing by Los Hermanos Rosario
Scott B. MacDonald is a Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He is also the chief economist at Smith’s Research & Gradings. Prior to that, he was the head of research at MC Asset Management LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation; chief economist for KWR International and an international economic adviser in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Washington, D.C.
Show Notes
- The Return of the Cold War in the Caribbean by Scott
- Is There a ‘New Normal’ for De-risking in the Caribbean? by Scott
Message/Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo (for more info on China-Caribbean topics)
Outro Music: Toast by Koffee
To truly understand Sino-Cuban relations you need to understand the context of Cuba's relations with Venezuela, the US, and the former USSR. Why did USSR become the Patron of Cuba for most of the Cold War? Why did Venezuela step in to support Cuba after the USSR collapse? Just as the last cold war will Cuba be the nexus of the "New Cold War"? We discussed all of these questions.
Dr. Bradley J. Murg is Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Director of Research, and Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of International Relations and Political Science here at Paragon International University. Dr. Murg also has been recognized as Distinguished Fellow and Senior Advisor at the Cambodia Institute for Cooperation and Peace and Senior Research Advisor at Future Forum. Dr. Murg’s research languages include English, French, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, and German.
Show Notes
- A Conversation between Che Guevara, Mao Zedong, and Zhou Enlai (1960)
- Venezuela and Cuba: The Ties that Bind
- There Will Not Be a New Cold War by Thomas Christensen
- Sino-Cuban Relations: No "New Cold War" in Havana by Bradley Murg & Rasheed Griffith
- On the Havana Syndrome
- Willy Wo-Lap Lam Commentary
- Mao and the Sino-Soviet Split
Message/Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo (for more info on China-Caribbean topics)
Intro/Outro Music: Chan Chan by Buena Vista Social Club
Kanyi Lui is a Taiwanese-Australian international finance lawyer based in Beijing. He is a Partner at Pinsent Masons with almost two decades of experience advising major financial institutions and borrowers on the development and financing of energy, natural resource, and infrastructure projects in emerging markets.
He has particular expertise on projects falling within the ambit of China’s Belt-and-Road Initiative (BRI). Kanyi is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, the Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators, Prime Disputes and Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand, and has rights of audience before the AIFC Court.
Show notes:
- Chinese financing: banking with Chinese lenders by Kanyi Lui
- How China Lends by AidData
- The Chinese 'Debt Trap' Is a Myth by Deborah Brautigam and Meg Rithmire
Subscribe to China in the Caribbean Newsletter on Substack
Message/Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo (for more info on China-Caribbean topics)
Intro Music:
Africa Thing by Vin Gordon
Outro Music:
没钥匙的锁 by 刘聡 Key.L
Retired Lieutenant General Charles Hooper is the Former Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (2017-2020). LTG Hooper was commissioned in 1979 as an infantryman. Since then his political-military assignments include: Assistant Army Attaché to China; the Deputy Division Chief, War Plans Division; Senior Country Director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense; and U.S. Defense Attaché to the People's Republic of China among other prominent assignments. LTG Hooper joined The Cohen Group as a Senior Counselor in October 2020 following a distinguished 41-year military career. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.
LTG Hooper is fluent in Mandarin and has had a truly fascinating career in the US-China military and policy relations. In the first part of the podcast we discuss the early days of his experiences in China from the 1980s, then we discuss some finer aspects of US foreign weapons sales and security cooperation, and finally we discussed his views on current US-China relations.
LTG Hooper on Twitter: @LTG_CHooper
Show Notes:
- FAOA Journal of International Affairs (for Foreign Area Officers)
- The U.S. Military in Support of Strategic Objectives in Latin America and the Caribbean by Prof. Evan Ellis (Army War College)
- ISIS in the Caribbean
- 美国反对美国 (America Against America) by Wang Huning 王沪宁
Subscribe to China in the Caribbean Newsletter on Substack
Message/Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo (for more info on China-Caribbean topics)
Intro Music:
Revenge Dub by Vin Gordon
Outro Music:
Bridges by Shaggy (ft. Chronixx)
It is impossible to have a serious and nuanced conversation on the Caribbean's engagement with China without understanding the historical context of the Caribbean economies. When we study the arc of Caribbean economic history, a wide-scale engagement with China (as the world's largest exporter and soon the largest importer) should not be seen as any kind of hard pivot but instead the continuation of the Caribbean's long-standing trade dynamic. However, we must avoid falling into the trap of thinking that engagement with China is a zero-sum game.
In this episode I'm joined by Victor Bulmer-Thomas, Professor Emeritus of Economics at University of London and Former Director of Chatham House. He wrote what is perhaps the best book on Caribbean economic history titled 'The Economic History of the Caribbean since the Napoleonic Wars'.
"There is a great deal of pessimism in the Caribbean today - just as there was in the 1930s, 1890s and even earlier. The region has struggled to find the correct policy responses to globalisation, is increasingly marginal to the interests of most more countries, is mostly too "rich" to qualify for aid flows or debt relief, and has failed to build institutions it knows are required. Some of this pessimism is justified, but much of it is not. The Caribbean still has advantages that other less fortunate regions lack and is in a position to resolve many of its problems itself. Whether it does so depends in part on drawing the right lessons from its own historical experience." - Prof. Bulmer-Thomas
Subscribe to China in the Caribbean Newsletter on Substack
Message/Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo (for more info on China-Caribbean topics)
Email me: hello@rasheedjg.me
Intro Music:
Rumours by Gregory Issacs
Outro Music:
Hills and Valleys by Buju Banton
Donate
Paxos
0x1fbDB8C50A031c682cad06355197f5639C8343C4
Barbados is 91% Black. East Asians account for just around 0.1% of the country's population.
In this episode I chat with my friend Lin Jiang (Jack) about his experience growing up and living in the Caribbean. He moved to Barbados when we was 7 years old and immediately had to deal with questions of identity and issues of racism that persist until today.
Subscribe to China in the Caribbean Newsletter on Substack
Message/Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo (for more info on China-Caribbean topics)
Email me: hello@rasheedjg.me
Intro Music:
Mr. Sun by Don Carlos
Outro Music:
那阵时不知道 by my little airpot
Donate
Paxos
0x1fbDB8C50A031c682cad06355197f5639C8343C4
From BYD buses in Barbados, Huawei infrastructure in Antigua, Surveillance tech in Jamaica, and ZTE in Cuba, the US-China tech competition dramatically affects the Caribbean. In this episode I am joined by Matt Sheehan to discuss these issues as well as his book: The Transpacific Experiment. He is a Fellow at MacroPolo, a think tank of the Paulson Institute.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @mattsheehan88
Show Notes
- Remaking "Made in China": Beijing's Industrial Internet Ambitions by Matt Sheehan
- How Silicon Valley Views China Across Five Dimensions by Matt Sheehan
- Jamaica Eye
- BYD in Barbados
- Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister turns down Huawei to appease the US
Subscribe to China in the Caribbean Newsletter on Substack
Message/Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo (for more info on China-Caribbean topics)
Email me: hello@rasheedjg.me
Intro Music:
Bridges by Shaggy
Outro Music:
Things In Life by Dennis Brown (you may know this song from Wong Kar-Wai's Chungking Express)
Donate
Paxos
0x1fbDB8C50A031c682cad06355197f5639C8343C4
In this episode I am joined by Barbados's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, His Excellency Ambassador Francois Jackman. We discussed several major foreign policy and geopolitical themes centred on the Caribbean's diplomatic posture towards China and the North Atlantic.
Ambassador Jackman on Twitter: @francoisjackman
Show Notes
- Barbados Foreign Policy Fifty Years and Beyond by Amb. Jackman
- The Caribbean also needs to Pivot by Amb. Jackman
- CARICOM Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR)
- Cuba-US-Caribbean Relations
- Overview of China-Barbados Relations
- Organisation of American States (OAS)
- China's economic engagement in the Caribbean (coauthored by me)
Message/Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo (for more info on China-Caribbean topics)
Email me: hello@rasheedjg.me
Intro/Outro Music
Rise and Shine by Bunny Wailer
I'm now an Emergent Ventures Fellow! I've received a generous grant from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. The grant will be used to develop this podcast and create more China-Caribbean relations content (newsletter coming soon)! This is all thanks to this episode's guest - Tyler Cowen. He is the Director of the Mercatus Center and an Economics Professor at George Mason University. Tyler is also the coauthor (along with Alex Tabarrok of the Marginal Revolution blog) and host of the Conversations with Tyler Podcast.
Show Notes
- Sir. Arthur Lewis, Nobel Prize winning Economist from St. Lucia
- King Tubby, Jamaican Dub musician
- Hector Hyppolite, Haitian painter (perhaps the most famous)
- José Bedia, Cuban avant garde artist
- Paul Romer, on Jamaican governance failures and diaspora voting
- Delisle Worrell, Caribbean countries need to retire their currencies and Dollarize
- Camile Paglia, on Rihanna (who is Barbadian)
- Kiasma Contemporary Art Museum (Helsinki, Finland)
- Sibelius Violin Concerto (Ray Chen with GSO)
- McCloskey’s Bourgeois Virtues
- Junot Diaz 'Apocalypse'
- On suicide in the Caribbean
- Music in the Castle of Heaven (book) by John Eliot Gardiner
- In The Mood for Love, film by Wong Kar-Wai (my favourite)
Message/Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo (for more info on China-Caribbean topics)
Email me: hello@rasheedjg.me
Intro Music:
Chilout/Slum by Gregory Isaacs (Jamaican dub genre)
Outro Music:
Sé pa pou dat by Alan Cavé (Haitian Kompa genre)
Donate
Paxos
0x1fbDB8C50A031c682cad06355197f5639C8343C4
This episode features Wazim Mowla, a Program Assistant at the Atlantic Council Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center Caribbean Initiative. Previously he worked at the Embassy of Guyana and the Embassy of Antigua and Barbuda in Washington DC.
Wazim on Twitter: @WMowla
Show Notes
- The Strange Saga of Taiwan's Short-Lived Office in Guyana
- Caribbean Basin Security Initiative
Recommendations
- Latin America Confronts the United States: Asymmetry and Influence by Tom Long
- Island People: The Caribbean and the World by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro
Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo
Intro Music
Dreamin' by 53 Thieves
Outro Music
一片漆黑的海 A Dark Sea by Sleeping Brain 眠脑
This episode features Parsifal D’Sola, a Chinese Foreign Policy analyst focused on Sino-Venezuelan relations. He is also the Founder and CEO of the Andrés Bello Foundation – China Latin American Research Center based in Bogota, Colombia.
Parsifal of Twitter: @pdsola
Show notes:
- China, Venezuela, and the New Silk Road in between
- China in the LAC: Digital Diplomacy During COVID-19
- What is PetroCaribe?
- China-Latin America Finance Database
- Mercosur: South America's Fractious Trade Bloc
Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo
Intro Music:
No le Pegue a la Negra by Joe Arroyo
Outro Music:
Ah Feeling To Party by Black Stalin
Why did the Black Panthers get offered asylum in China? Why did W.E.B Du Bois change his mind about Mao? In this episode I am speaking with Dr. Keisha Brown about Sino-Black Relations. Dr. Brown is an Assistant Professor at Tennessee State University. She is a historian and Asian studies scholar whose work examines the representations of blackness in Modern China.
Dr. Brown on Twitter: @DocKBrown85
Recommendations
- Teaching China Through Black History
- “Blackness in Exile: W.E.B. Du Bois’ Role in the Formation of Representations of Blackness as Conceptualized by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).” Phylon 53. 2 (Winter 2016): 20-33.
- “Keisha Brown” chapter in Trailblasian: Black Women Expats in East Asia Anthology. T.K. McLennon, ed. (June 2014).
- Homegrown Podcast
- NPR Code Switch Podcast
- Babylon East: Performing Dancehall, Roots Reggae, and Rastafari in Japan by Marvin Sterling
- Afro Asia by Fred Ho & Bill Mullen (Editors)
Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo
Intro Music
Tadow by Masego + Fkj
Outro Music
暴风雨/ Storm by Higher Brothers
In this episode I will be talking with Dr. Evan Ellis on the view from the U.S of China's security engagement with the Caribbean. We discussed China's role in UN Peacekeeping missions to Haiti; the commercial and strategic potential of China building a canal in Nicaragua to compete with the Panama Canal; the scenario space for China building military outposts in the Caribbean; and other topics.
Dr. Ellis is a research professor of Latin American studies at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute and a Senior Associate at the Center of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Also Dr. Ellis previously served on the U.S secretary of state’s Policy Planning Staff with responsibility for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Recommendations:
- China's Advance in the Caribbean by Evan Ellis
- American Foreign Policy in the English-Speaking Caribbean: From the Eighteenth to Twenty-first Century by Samantha Chaitram
Show Notes:
- Wang Jing: The man behind the Nicaragua canal project
- The Modern World-System by Immanuel Wallerstein
- Do Latin American Waters Continue to Fall Prey to China's Fishing?
- Hutchinson Ports (in the Bahamas; Chinese operated)
Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo
Intro music:
Dreamin' - 53 Thieves
Outro Music
Mañana Sureña - Los Aguas Aguas
In this episode I'll be chatting with Jeremy Goldkorn. Jeremy worked in China for 20 years as an editor and entrepreneur. He is Editor-in-Chief of SupChina, and co-founder of the Sinica Podcast. We had a wide ranging conversation about wolf worrier diplomacy, CCP thinking, and how to do nuanced China watching.
Jeremy on Twitter: @goldkorn
Recommended Reading:
- A Fearful Asymmetry: COVID-19 and America's Information Deficit with China
- 江时学：“战狼外交”是个伪命题
- An Ignored Canary in an Unknown Coal Mine: The Caribbean's Economic Engagement with China
- The 'Little Emperor Model' of Chinese Diplomacy
- The New Tianxia: Rebuilding China’s Internal and External Order
Intro Music:
祝酒歌 by Kawa
Outro Music:
All Ah We by Peter Ram
Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo
In this episode I'll be chatting with Ruben Gonzalez-Vicente. He is a Lecturer at Leiden University in the Netherlands and studies China's relations in Latin America and the Caribbean. We chat about Chinese loan making in the Caribbean (with a particular focus on Jamaica) and the implications of the Belt and Road Initiative 一带一路 (BRI) for Caribbean development.
This is a theme that we will return to again in later episodes of the podcast and the discussion here sets a great foundation.
Ruben's Papers:
- Varieties of Capital and Predistribution: The Foundations of Chinese Infrastructural Investment in the Caribbean
- Make development great again? Accumulation regimes, spaces of sovereign exception and the elite development paradigm of China's Belt and Road Initiative
- Over Hills and Valleys Too: China's Belt and Road Initiative in the Caribbean
Ruben's Email: r.gonzalez.vicente@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Intro Music:
Looking For China by Bunji Garlin
Outro Music:
Stage Gone Bad by Kes & Iwer George
Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo
Cross-strait relations do feature in caribbean foreign policy given that the region has quite a high proportion of Taiwan allies. We cannot discuss China in the Caribbean without thinking seriously about Taiwan.
In this episode I'm having a chat with Lev Nachman, a PhD candidate at UC Irvine. His research focuses on the relationship between social movements and political parties, with a spcial regional interest in Taiwan and Hong Kong. We talk about the domestic politics of Taiwan.
Lev on Twitter: @lnachman32
Recommended Reading
- How Liberal is Taiwan? Adultery, the Death Penalty and Marriage Equality by Dafydd Fell
- Once a Cold War Flashpoint, a Part of Taiwan Embraces China's Pull by Chris Horton
- 菜市场政治学
Intro Music
Chronixx - Here Comes Trouble
Outro Music
眠脑： 一片漆黑的海
Follow me on Twitter: @rasheedguo
In this episode i'll be talking with Eric Olander, co-founder of the fantastic China in Africa Project.
Caribbean policy makers often believe they have recreate the wheel when it comes to China policy. They don't realize that China has been actively engaged with Africa. And the experience of those African countries can be very instructive for the Caribbean. The two regions have many similarities from being former colonies, relatively undeveloped, and of course being majority black.
But the Caribbean is relatively unaware of African generally and even less so of Sino-African relations. In this episode I want to open the dialogue between the Caribbean and Africa as it relates to what we can learn about China policy. In the age of Zoom and Whatsapp there is no excuse for a policy maker in Kingston to be unaware of what China is doing in Kigali.
Intro Music
Masego & FKJ - Tadow
Outro Music
Los Aguas Aguas - Mañana Sureña
In this episode I'm speaking with Jordan Schneider, host of the ChinaTalk Podcast. He also has a great newsletter that you should subscribe to: https://chinatalk.substack.com/
We discuss:
- The possible future of US-China tech competition under the incoming Biden Administration
- The nature of China's twitter influence campaigns and what we can learn about making viral memes from Russian disinformation operators
- Why open source software should be the basis for a new US industrial policy and why China is looking to push that same strategy
- What we can learn from good Chinese tv shows
- Why we should all be listening to Chinese rap
Recommendations:
Jordan
- American Mandarin Society 'China Syllabi Project'
- 隐秘的角落 (Chinese TV show about the drama that ensues after a group of young kids accidentally film a murder.)
- 令人心动的offer (Chinese reality show about legal interns. Season 2 is particularly recommended.)
- 棋魂 (Chinese TV drama about a Fairy godfather who guides a kid in the ways of Weiqi/Go)
Rasheed
- 猎狐 (Chinese police drama about the anti-corruption campaign in China around 2014-2015 to prosecute financial criminals. The official Chinese campaign was called "Operation Fox Hunting".)
- 中国新说唱 (Chinese rap/hip content competition show)
- Caribbean Soca Music
Twitter links
Jordan @jordanschnyc
Rasheed @rasheedguo
Intro Music: Chronixx - Here Comes Trouble
Outro Music: Farmer Nappy - Big People Party
Jared Ward is a lecturer at a number of Midwest universities including the University of Akron, John Carroll University, and Notre Dame College (Ohio). In this episode we discuss his PhD research that traces Beijing’s earliest attempts to gain a diplomatic foothold in the Western Hemisphere — from supporting the armed revolution of Fidel Castro to building a brick making factory in Guyana.
Guest contact info:
Personal website: https://jaredaward.wordpress.com/
Twitter: @JA_Ward_
Intro Music:
Here Comes Trouble
Chronixx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfeIfiiBTfY
Outro Music:
Mañana Sureña
Los Aguas Aguas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joL1uQVv_QU&ab_channel=LosAguasAguas-Topic
Sino-CARICOM trade is a hot topic now. But can a trade agreement between the Caribbean and China actually be useful? In this episode, Alicia Nicholls offers some skepticism on that point. We had a wide ranging discussion about all things trade within the CARICOM (Caribbean Community): issues from the "One China" Recognition split in the region to the lack of policy capacity to even exploit current trade agreements will continue to frustrate the prospects of a Sino-CARICOM trade agreement.
Guest Bio
Alicia Nicholls is an international trade and development specialist with over a decade of experience working and writing on the area. She is also the founder of the Caribbean Trade Law & Development Blog.
Guest Contact Info
Twitter - @LicyLaw
I recommend listeners to check out Alicia's fantastic blog focused on Caribbean trade policy:
https://caribbeantradelaw.com/
Intro Music:
Chronixx (from Jamaica)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfeIfiiBTfY
In this episode I speak with Dr. Antonio Alleyne. He is a Lecturer at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. Previously, he was an Economist in the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Barbados. Dr. Alleyne is one of the few Caribbean persons to receive a PhD from a university in China.
We discuss:
- Pivoting from traditional tourism markets to Asian markets
- How can Caribbean states reimagine the purpose of embassies
- Persistent protectionist policies in the Caribbean
- and more...
You can find out more about Dr. Alleyne's work at this Research Gate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Antonio_Alleyne
You can reach him at his email address if you have any questions related to his academic work: antonio.alleyne@cavehill.uwi.edu
Intro Music:
Chronixx (from Jamaica)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfeIfiiBTfY
In this episode I speak with Dr. Delisle Worrell. He is the former Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados and a current member of the Financial Policy Council of the Bermuda Monetary Authority. He first visited China in 1980. As Governor he established the Fish & Dragon festival; an annual celebration bringing Chinese culture to the Barbadian public.
Recommendations:
Dr. Worrell
- The Economic History of the Caribbean since the Napoleonic Wars by Victor Bulmer-Thomas
- Handbook of Caribbean Economies (Routledge, forthcoming) edited by Robert Looney
Rasheed
- The Theory of Economic Growth by Arthur Lewis