With the U.S. absent from two major international summits this month, the G20 in South Africa and the COP30 in Brazil, we got an early look at what the post-American order is starting to look like. In both instances, China moved to fill the void left by the U.S., taking on a much more prominent role.

Anika Patel, China analyst at the non-profit climate news site Carbon Brief, reported extensively from COP30 and noted a key difference in Beijing's messaging at the different summits in Johannesburg and Belém. In South Africa, Chinese Premier Li Qiang sought to position Beijing as an emergent global norm-setter, whereas in Brazil, the Chinese delegation explicitly rejected a leadership role.

Anika joins Eric & Cobus to discuss China's complicated position at the COP30 summit and why, even though it's the world's leader in climate energy and technology, the country explicitly doesn't want the designation "climate leader."

📌 Key topics in this episode:

• China's unusually prominent role at COP30 as the U.S. stayed away
• Why China rejects the "climate leader" label despite its influence
• How consensus politics shaped COP30 outcomes on finance, fossil fuels, and just transition
• Climate finance tensions and China's insistence on developing-country status
• Battles over CBAM, EV tariffs, rare earths, and other unilateral trade measures
• How developing countries weigh cheap Chinese green tech against local industry goals
• Why China's carbon market, energy transition, and pavilion drew huge interest at COP30

SHOW NOTES:

• Carbon Brief: COP30: Key outcomes for food, forests, land and nature at the UN climate talks in Belém
• Carbon Brief: COP30: Key outcomes agreed at the UN climate talks in Belém

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X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque

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China has funded, designed, and built more than 200 government buildings across Africa, including the headquarters of the African Union and Ecowas, foreign ministry annexes in Ghana and Kenya, and at least 15 national parliaments.

Eric and Cobus speak with Innocent Batsani-Ncube, an associate professor of African politics at Queen Mary University of London and author of the new book China and African Parliaments.

Drawing on extensive fieldwork in Lesotho, Malawi, and Zimbabwe, Batsani-Ncube explains how China's parliamentary construction boom works, why African governments welcome it, and what he calls "subtle power"—a form of elite-level influence that sits between soft and sharp power.

📌 Key topics in this episode:

• Why China builds African parliamentary buildings — and why African governments accept them
• "Subtle power" vs. soft power vs. sharp power
• The politics behind construction, design, and land selection
• How these buildings shape legislative capacity and political identity
• Case studies: Lesotho, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Congo-Brazzaville
• Does this compromise sovereignty? Or strengthen parliaments?
• Are these buildings really vectors for Chinese espionage?

📘 Purchase China and African Parliaments by Innocent Batsani-Ncube on Amazon

JOIN THE DISCUSSION:

X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social

FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH & SPANISH:

• French: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
• Spanish: www.chinalasamericas.com | @ChinaAmericas

JOIN US ON PATREON!
Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

This week Eric & Cobus sit down with Wu Peng, the director-general of the department of African affairs in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for his perspective on a wide range of issues that are impacting relations between the two regions.

The conversation also features questions from a trio of experts in China-Africa relations including:

• Gyude Moore, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development (@gyude_moore)
• Zainab Usman, director of the Africa program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (@MissZeeUsman)
• Aggrey Mutambo, senior diplomatic affairs writer for the Daily Nation and The East African newspaper (@agmutambo)

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Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque | @wupeng_mfachina

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