Skip to main content
The Interpreter

Interpreter - Menu Links

  • Articles
  • Debates
  • Contributors
  • About

Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 5 Aug 2024
    • Aid & Development
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative
    • United Nations

    What is China’s role in achieving the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals?

    Hannah McNicol
    It is time to think more seriously about the increasing relationship between Chinese and dominant international development models.
  • 13 Nov 2023
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative
    • China

    Belt and Road 2.0

    Grace Stanhope
    China’s Belt and Road Forum last month showed the initiative is not dead but changing shape.
  • 27 Oct 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative
    • Development Assistance
    • Emerging Donors
    • China
    • Indonesia
    • Indonesia's Economy

    Geopolitics and the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway

    Teesta Prakash , Jack Sato
    Has the bullet train project strained the once tight relationship between Indonesia and China?
  • 21 Aug 2023
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative
    • India
    • Maldives
    • Nepal
    • Sri Lanka

    India doubles down on regional connectivity to counter China

    Henry Storey
    New Delhi has big advantages in its South Asia infrastructure push – even if outspending China isn’t one of them.
  • 1 Aug 2023
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative
    • China
    • Pakistan

    China’s big gamble in Pakistan: A 10-year scorecard for CPEC

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    The monster project for the Belt and Road Initiative has a deeply troubled beginning.
  • 15 Feb 2023
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative
    • China
    • Philippines
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    Reset in US–Philippines relations tells of yet another China fumble

    Makoi Popioco
    The 180-degree reversal in Manila’s foreign policy was a consequent evolution of the previous regime’ approach.
  • 25 Jan 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative
    • Development Assistance
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Australian Foreign Aid
    • Pacific Islands
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Solomon Islands

    Chinese aid to the Pacific: decreasing, but not disappearing

    Alexandre Dayant , Meg Keen , Roland Rajah
    With fewer Chinese finances available and less demand from Pacific countries, geopolitical competition is opening up.
  • 5 Aug 2022
    • Aid & Development
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative
    • Development Assistance
    • Asia
    • Review

    Development finance in Asia: a memoir

    Robert Wihtol
    A former president of the Asian Development Bank reminisces about dealing with the rise of China.
  • 30 Jun 2022
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative
    • Australia
    • Pacific Islands
    • Global Economy

    Economic diplomacy: Names trump numbers in the new BRI debt battle

    Greg Earl
    As G7 leaders talk up infrastructure spending, Australia’s Pacific family members contemplate how much they can take.
  • 6 Jun 2022
    • Thailand
    • Malaysia
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    Proceed with caution: high-speed rail for Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur

    Wu Shang-Su
    The potential connectivity benefits for two of Asia’s big cities are huge. The obstacles are many.
  • 11 May 2022
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative
    • Development Assistance
    • Southeast Asia
    • Poverty

    Mapping Southeast Asian development assistance

    Teesta Prakash , Alexandre Dayant
    A new measure of foreign aid impact in countries hit by Covid and infrastructure failure is set to fill the gap.
  • 20 Jul 2021
    • Global Issues
    • United States
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    Can Biden’s Build Back Better World compete with the Belt and Road?

    Henry Storey
    Overhyping China’s BRI can be self-defeating and play into Beijing’s hands.
  • 21 Jun 2021
    • China's Economy
    • Africa
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    The battle for Africa

    Nadège Rolland
    A US-led coalition of Western democracies versus a China-led circle of developing friends.
  • 11 May 2021
    • China
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    Do Belt and Road projects provide local benefits?

    Dirk van der Kley
    The assumption that China’s overseas infrastructure projects only run on Chinese labour is in need of a reality check.
  • 15 Apr 2021
    • China's Economy
    • China
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    Has China given up on state-owned enterprise reform?

    Nicholas Borst
    Rather than allowing the private sector more space, Beijing wants a tool for the implementation of government policy.
  • 12 Mar 2021
    • China
    • Review
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    The Belt and Road, and the pandemic detour

    Stephen Minas
    An important book illustrates the different hopes and dreams of partners to Beijing’s big infrastructure drive.
  • 5 Feb 2021
    • Chinese Foreign Aid
    • China
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    Messages from China’s third white paper on foreign aid

    Denghua Zhang
    What's changed, and what hasn’t?
  • 18 Nov 2020
    • China
    • Technology
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    Gauge-changing train is no game changer for China

    Wu Shang-Su
    The recently launched high-speed rail adaptable to different track widths is unlikely to jump the hurdles of the BRI.
  • 6 Nov 2020
    • China's Economy
    • China
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    China’s problematic lending comes home to roost

    Robert Wihtol
    Pressure is mounting for China to join international debt-management initiatives.
  • 26 Oct 2020
    • Europe
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    The Three Seas Initiative: A European answer to China’s Belt and Road?

    David Morris
    A quest to modernise dilapidated infrastructure in Central Europe has quickly transformed into a geopolitical contest.
  • 9 Sep 2020
    • Pacific Islands
    • China's Economy
    • Chinese Trade
    • China
    • Sri Lanka
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    Debunking the myth of China’s “debt-trap diplomacy”

    Shahar Hameiri
    Never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence.
  • 2 Sep 2020
    • China
    • Iran
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    A China-Iran bilateral deal: Costs all around

    Jeffrey Payne
    Beijing sees an opportunity in Tehran’s international isolation – but may not realise the tangle it is entering.
  • 30 Jun 2020
    • China
    • Pakistan
    • Coronavirus
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    China’s pipeline dream in Pakistan

    Rahul Jaybhay
    The plan to transport oil across the Himalayas is a logistical nightmare. Post-Covid economics will make it even harder.
  • 29 Jun 2020
    • China
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    China’s charmless offensive

    Mark Beeson
    The shine has come off what was once seen as China’s deft ability to make friends and wield influence.
  • 19 Jun 2020
    • China
    • Technology
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    Belt and Road means big data and facial recognition, too

    Peter Layton
    China is exporting the same social control technology it employs to monitor its own population.
  • 9 Jun 2020
    • The Americas
    • China
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    The gravity of China’s space base in Argentina

    Erin Watson-Lynn
    What the South American country stands to gain from the deal is something of a mystery.

Stay informed with the latest commentary and analysis on international events from experts at the Lowy Institute and around the world.

Register

The Interpreter features in-depth analysis & expert commentary on the latest international events, published daily by the Lowy Institute.

© Copyright 2024 Lowy Institute

  • Debates
  • Contributors
  • Articles
  • About
  • Terms of Use
  • Log In
  • My bookmarks