Executive Summary: PRC investments and cooperation in the South Pacific enhance its military reach and ability to monitor strategic regions. This engagement serves not only economic interests but also significant geopolitical and security purposes, particularly in nations along key maritime and aerial routes. There is... MORE

Executive Summary: Majority ownership by state-owned Cosco Shipping, and involvement of companies like ZPMC which is closely linked to China's Military-Civil Fusion strategy, raises concerns about the dual-use nature of infrastructure projects and potential military implications. The PRC has become Peru's main trading partner and... MORE

Executive Summary: BeiDou enhances both the PRC’s strategic autonomy and its influence across the world. It has signed agreements with numerous countries to expand its use, including for military applications. An interoperability agreement with the US government diminishes the strategic value of GPS by eliminating... MORE

Executive Summary Analysis of trends across three previous UPRs (2009, 2013, and 2018) suggests an increase in PRC influence in the UN. Over time, there has been an increase in approving questions from PRC-friendly states, diluting criticism and highlighting the PRC's ability to garner international... MORE

On December 1, the first visa-free travelers entered China from a select group of mainly European countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and Malaysia (Xinhua, December 2). Expanding visa-free travel (for more than 72 hours) to these countries was arguably the most visible step... MORE

In October 2023, Nicaragua signed an agreement with China’s CAMC Engineering Company (中工国际工程) for the reconstruction, expansion, and upgrading of the Punta Huete International Airport (Yicai, October 18). The company is a subsidiary of the conglomerate China National Machinery Industry Corporation (国际集团), also known as... MORE

Arriving in the midst of an intensifying great power competition between China and the United States, the digital Renminbi (RMB) has been the subject of intense speculation and hype since its launch in October 2020, mostly from observers outside of China who overstate its potential... MORE

Observers assessed the outcome of the first round of Argentina’s presidential elections held on October 22 as good news for the Chinese government (VOA, October 26). Against the odds, Sergio Massa, the Peronist candidate and current minister of economy, emerged on top, despite his overseeing... MORE

Foreign trips are now rare occasions for Russian President Vladimir Putin. As such, it was highly important to him to hold a position above that of the other participants at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on October 17 and 18. Chinese Communist Party... MORE

2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The project was initially thought so significant that it was included as part of China's 13th five-year development plan (NDRC, 2016). However, the decade-long... MORE