In response to Bolivia’s recent agreement with Russian state nuclear firm Rosatom and China's Citic Guoan Group to develop its largely untapped resources of lithium – a resource of increasing importance due to its use in rechargeable batteries for mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras and electric vehicles – US Senator Marco Rubio tweeted: “Whether it’s through China’s BRI, debt-trap policy, or other false promises, nations in our region must remain vigilant of the threat of doing business with Beijing.”

Despite a range of policy makers and researcher debunking Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) activities as ‘debt-trapping’ – even by World Bank researches who descibed BRI as ‘largely beneficial’ – Western and allied groups have continually stocked fears and misunderstandings of what the BRI is and the role it is playing in human development.

Yet, in the face of this, China continues to prioritize engagement with developing nations. So what’s the BRI and what are some of its implications for Africa? Amadeus and Mika discuss.

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The Crane: An Africa-China Podcast is a bi-monthly podcast giving you a fresh look at the news, events, and debates around China-Africa relations from the perspective of two young(ish) Africans.

You can listen to all episodes of The Crane for free anywhere you get podcasts.

Brought to you by the Dongsheng Collective. Follow us @DongshengNews on Twitter, Instagram, Telegram & TikTok. Or visit www.dongshengnews.org.

The bumper music uses the song "Live It" by Ketsa, under a single track perpetual license that gives the licensee the perpetual right to use the track in commercial projects worldwide.

#TheCranePodcast #ChinaAfrica #Dongsheng

The Crane: Episode #16 - Wenhua Zongheng & Building Platforms for International Debate

Tings Chak joins us to discuss Wenhua Zongheng (文化纵横), a leading journal of contemporary political and cultural thought in China.

Founded in 2008, the journal publishes issues every two months, featuring articles by a wide array of intellectuals across the country and building a platform for discussion of different ideological positions and values in China’s intellectual community.

The publication is an important reference for debates and developments in Chinese thought, on matters ranging from China’s ancient history and traditional culture to its current socialist practices and innovations, from the important cultural trends in contemporary Chinese social life to Chinese views and analyses of the world today.

Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and Dongsheng have partnered with Wenhua Zongheng to publish an international edition of the journal, releasing four issues per year featuring a selection of articles that hold particular relevance for the Global South. For more, visit https://thetricontinental.org/wenhua-zongheng/.

Tings Chak 翟庭君 is an internationalist activist and artist, trained in architecture. After emerging from migrant justice movements in Toronto, Canada, she has been working with diverse working-class movements across the Global South. Chak is the co-founder of the Dongsheng collective. She leads the Art Department of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Her current research focuses on the art of national liberation struggles, and the horizons that gives for the movements of today.

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The Crane: An Africa-China Podcast is a bi-monthly podcast giving you a fresh look at the news, events, and debates around China-Africa relations from the perspective of two young(ish) Africans.

You can listen to all episodes of The Crane for free anywhere you get podcasts.

Brought to you by the Dongsheng Collective. Follow us @DongshengNews on Twitter, Instagram, Telegram & TikTok. Or visit www.dongshengnews.org.

The bumper music uses the song "Live It" by Ketsa, under a single track perpetual license that gives the licensee the perpetual right to use the track in commercial projects worldwide.

#TheCranePodcast #ChinaAfrica #Dongsheng

Prof David Monyae joins us to discuss what he describes as a new geopolitical interregnum, where – drawing from Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci – he contends that the ‘old’ is dying, while the ‘new’ multipolar world order is not yet born.

From growing international platforms to discuss issues of public interest, such as the Lanting Forum, to the recent clamor for BRICS membership, we are seeing new qualitative shifts in international relations and new regionalist vehicles and processes of the Global South.

Prof. Monyae is an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Johannesburg, and Co-Director of the UJ Confucius Institute and the Centre for Africa-China Studies. Prof Monyae is an international relations and foreign policy expert, with a PhD in International Relations from the University of Witwatersrand.

He previously served as Section Manager: International Relations Policy Analysis at the South African Parliament, providing strategic management, parliamentary foreign policy formulation, and monitoring and analysis services. He has published widely and is a respected political analyst, featuring in the national and international media.

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The Crane: An Africa-China Podcast is a bi-monthly podcast giving you a fresh look at the news, events, and debates around China-Africa relations from the perspective of two young(ish) Africans.

You can listen to all episodes of The Crane for free anywhere you get podcasts.

Brought to you by the Dongsheng Collective. Follow us @DongshengNews on Twitter, Instagram, Telegram & TikTok. Or visit www.dongshengnews.org.

The bumper music uses the song "Live It" by Ketsa, under a single track perpetual license that gives the licensee the perpetual right to use the track in commercial projects worldwide.

#TheCranePodcast #ChinaAfrica #Dongsheng