The Belt and Road Podcast

By Erik Myxter-iino and Juliet Lu

Social Sciences

What's The Belt and Road Podcast about?

A podcast that covers the latest news, research and analysis of China's growing presence in the developing world.

Download our free app to listen on your phone

LAST EPISODE

The Periphery Perspective: ...

04.28.2023

Alessandro (Ale) Rippa joins Juliet and Erik on the podcast to talk about how he uses China's borderlands as a starting point to understand the Chinese state, global engagements like the Belt and Road Initiative, and Chinese development. They discuss ...

The Belt and Road Podcast episodes:

04.28.2023 The Periphery Perspective: Global China from the Borderlands with Ale Rippa Alessandro (Ale) Rippa joins Juliet and Erik on the podcast to talk about how he uses China's borderlands as a starting point to understand the Chinese state, global engagements like the Belt and Road Initiative, and Chinese development. They discuss ...
03.24.2023 China's Growing Flirtations with International NGO Collaboration with May Farid and Hui Li May Farid and Hui Li drop by the podcast to talk about INGOs, or international non-governmental organizations, and specifically how their relationship with China is shifting as China goes global. The conversation focuses on their article "International NGOs as intermediaries ...
01.18.2023 COP15 and China's Growing Environmental Leadership with Jesse Rodenbiker and Tyler Harlan Juliet is joined by friends and fellow researchers Jesse Rodenbiker and Tyler Harlan to discuss their recent experiences at the COP15 of the Conference on Biological Diversity, China's growing environmental leadership, and China's domestic environmental policies and their impact on ...
12.12.2022 Comparing the Railway Bureaucracies in China and India with Kyle Chan Kyle Chan visits the Belt and Road Podcast to talk about state capacity in railway bureaucracies in China and India, his research collected while riding trains through the two countries, the incredibly mundane naming of Chinese companies, and much more. ...
10.24.2022 Exploring Chinese Soft Power with Maria Repnikova Juliet and Erik are joined by Maria Repnikova to talk about her book, "Chinese soft power," Confucius Institutes, China's love for spectacle, and of course, how all this and more applies to the Belt and Road. What is soft power? ...
09.16.2022 Evaluating Mega Projects: The Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya with Keren Zhu Keren Zhu talked with us about her research on the socioeconomic impacts of the Belt and Road, specifically with regard to Kenya's Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). She provides background and analysis on the SGR, she and Eric discuss their personal ...
08.09.2022 China's Global Climate Governance with Jeffrey Qi Jeffrey Qi discusses China's growing role in high-level, high-stakes global climate governance. We discuss research Jeffrey conducted as a master's student in political science at the University of British Columbia and the resulting article he wrote with his advisor Peter ...
06.23.2022 US Strategy Regarding China's Presence in the African Continent with Winslow Robertson and Owakhela Kankhwende Erik is joined by Winslow Robertson and Owakhela Kankhwende to discuss their chapter of the book From Trump to Biden and Beyond: Reimagining U.S.-China Relations, entitled "U.S. Strategy Vis-À-Vis China's Presence in the African Continent: Description and Prescription". Winslow Robertson ...
06.10.2022 The Politics of Infrastructure Maintenance and Decay w/ The Roadwork Asia Project's Agnieszka Joniak-Lüthi and Zarina Urmanbetova Juliet and Erik are joined by Agnieszka Joniak-Lüthi and Zarina Urmanbetova of Roadwork Asia to discuss China's road infrastructure projects in Central Asia and their research at Roadwork Asia, including their article on infrastructural connections across the Toghuz-Toro district of ...
05.10.2022 The Chinese Insurance Sector and the BRI with Margaret Myers Margaret Myers returns to The Belt and Road Podcast to speak with Erik about the role and development of China's international insurance sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. The conversation is based on her January 2022 report from The ...
04.08.2022 Ammar Malik, China AidData, and the Data and Debate over Chinese Lending On this episode, Juliet and Erik speak to Dr. Ammar Malik about AidData’s Global Chinese Development Finance Dataset, Version 2.0. This dataset provides the most comprehensive data on China’s overseas development finance activities, covering projects over 18 commitment years (2000-2017). ...
03.10.2022 Cotton Diplomacy in Central Asia: Dr. Irna Hofman on China in Tajikistan and Beyond Just across the Xinjiang border, China is investing in a range of sectors. Infrastructure and road construction are booming as in many other places, but cotton investments dominate and are seen as a distinct type. Cotton is considered a strategic ...
02.03.2022 A Systematic Analysis of International Chinese Contractors - w/ Hong Zhang On episode 51, Juliet and Erik welcome back Dr. Hong Zhang to discuss the history, interests, corporate structures and agency of International Chinese infrastructure contractors. Discussion is based on Hong Zhang's May 2021 working paper for SAIS-China Africa Research Initiative ...
12.15.2021 Episode 50!! Grounded Understanding Within BRI / B3W "Competition" with Juliet & Erik Juliet and Erik celebrate their 50th episode by discussing their first co-authored article "Beyond Competition: Why the BRI and the B3W Can’t and Shouldn’t Be Considered Rivals" (Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung) On June 12, 2021, US President Biden along with the ...
09.28.2021 How Do Chinese Firms Approach Overseas Investment Risk? w/ Alvin Camba On this episode Erik speaks with returning guest Dr. Alvin Camba about his latest research paper "How Chinese firms approach investment risk: strong leaders, cancellation, and pushback" (link to paper) This groundbreaking research uses hundreds of in-depth interviews with top ...
08.16.2021 The Continued Transformations of the Belt and Road Initiative w/ Jonathan Hillman On the episode, Juliet and Erik speak with Senior Fellow and Director of the Reconnecting Asia Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Jonathan E. Hillman. Jon discusses the BRI in a historical context and talks about the ...
07.15.2021 Kristen Hopewell on Chinese Agricultural Trade, Emerging Powers, and the Battle Over Export Credit On this episode, Juliet talks with Dr. Kristen Hopewell, the Canada Research Chair in Global Policy in the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia. Also a Wilson China Fellow, Kristen's work sheds light ...
06.22.2021 The Belt and Road from Outer Space to Underground with Julie Klinger On this episode Juliet and Erik speak with Dr. Julie Klinger about her research that smartly connects the seemingly disparate topics of geological surveying, Chinese domestic environmental and social movements, international infrastructure investments and China-Africa space cooperation. It's a fascinating ...
05.28.2021 Mapping Global China, For and By the People with Ivan Franceschini, Stella Hongzhang and Mark Grimsditch A new approach to mapping the Belt and Road Initiative has arrived! The People's Map of China combines a broad, global representation of Chinese investments across a map of where they occur across the world with deep dive research into ...
04.25.2021 An In-Depth Look at the Environmental Implications of the $2bn Ghana - Sinohydro Bauxite for Infrastructure Deal with Terrence Neal and Dr. Elizabeth Losos In this episode, Erik is joined by Terrence Neal and Dr. Elizabeth Losos to discuss their recent report that uses Ghana's $2bn bauxite-for-infrastructure deal with Sinohydro as a case study to look into the environmental implications of BRI resource-financed infrastructure ...
03.16.2021 Kelly Chen on the Complexities of Politically Important Sovereign Debt Agreements within the BRI - A Case Study of the Laos-China Railway Juliet and Erik talk with research assistant professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - Kelly Chen about her latest publication on the effects of Chinese infrastructure aid in Laos: hidden labor struggles, subcontracting, equity, and how ...
02.23.2021 Margaret Myers on China's “Multi-tiered” Approach in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region On this episode, Juliet and Erik talk with Margaret Myers about the growing importance of Sub-national actors in China's geo-economic engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean. Read the entire report "Going Local: An Assessment of China's Administrative-Level Activity in ...
01.21.2021 Easy Money is Rarely Easy: Jessica Liao on Infrastructure Financing and Export Credit Agencies China is not the only player in the infrastructure investment game. So how does China's rising engagement under the Belt and Road intersect with investments of other countries? Jessica Liao shares multiple examples in which China's engagement in infrastructure investments, ...
12.31.2020 Harnessing Chinese Telecommunications Investments to Ethiopia's Benefit with Ding Fei Countries along the Belt and Road face major strategic technical and political questions when considering Chinese assistance in the telecommunications field. In this episode, Dr. DingFei discusses two articles on Chinese telecoms investments in Ethiopia. Through the lenses of Ethiopian ...
12.18.2020 Who Decides and How Along the Belt and Road? with Thomas Hale & Johannes Urpelainen Who makes decisions about project approval, design, and the pursuit of sustainability - in China, in recipient countries, and beyond? A recent report entitled, 'Belt and Road Decision-making in China and Recipient Countries: How and To What Extent Does Sustainability ...
11.29.2020 Lucille Greer on China's Various Engagements in the Middle East The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region is vitally important to China, particularly as a source of oil but also increasingly as a staging ground for China's forays into global politics. Lucille Greer (@Lucille_Greer_), an expert on China-MENA relations, ...
10.28.2020 China's Global Power Database: China's Global Power Plant Investments Data at Your Fingertips! China is a leader in global power generation - both through fossil fuel and clean energy technologies. Chinese capital has been involved in establishing at least 777 power plants across the world, providing 186.5 GW of power generation capacity. To ...
10.12.2020 Without Dreams in Sihanoukville: Chinese and Cambodian Construction Labor Struggles Labor is a lightning rod for judgments of the benefits of the Belt and Road: Will Chinese projects generate work opportunities for the host country? Do Chinese employers follow different labor standards than others? When and how do workers speak ...
09.21.2020 People-centered Power: Chinese Knowledge Production, Networks, and Training Programs in Africa - Lina Benabdallah Prof. Dr. Lina Benabdallah discusses her latest book, "Shaping the Future of Power: Knowledge production and network-building in China-Africa Relations." Lina looks at China's rise and the Belt and Road beyond the hardware investments - the major infrastructure projects which ...
08.27.2020 Green Development or Greenwashing? Tyler Harlan on China's Green Finance, Green Energy, and Green Cooperation In this episode, Dr. Tyler Harlan breaks down the discourses vs. reality of the green turn in the Belt and Road Initiative since Xi Jinping announced it in 2017. He describes the state of knowledge and realities of implementation of ...
07.31.2020 How Chinese Capital Alters Center-Periphery Relations in Kenya - Elisa Gambino How does Chinese capital alter center-periphery relations in Kenya? Can peripheral groups have meaningful agency with Chinese state entities? Who determines, and what is considered "local" in local content agreements built into Chinese-financed infrastructure projects? On this Episode, Erik sits ...
07.02.2020 The History of Ethnic Chinese Garment Manufacturing in South Africa - Dr. Xu Liang In this episode, Juliet and Erik sit down with Dr. Xu Liang from Peking University's School of International Studies to talk about his latest research that chronicles historical and modern-day ethnic Chinese garment production in Newcastle, South Africa. Dr. Xu ...
05.29.2020 Turning Off the Tap: Tensions between China and Downstream Neighbors over Dams and Drought After a year of record breaking drought, the Mekong River water has level reached a historical low. Continued water stress, which is likely due to climate change, will permanently change the ecology of the region and water stress is already ...
05.13.2020 The Complexities of a Chinese Dam Project in Ghana - Dr. Xiao Han On this episode, Erik speaks with Dr. Xiao Han on her latest work co-authored by Michael Webber - “From Chinese dam building in Africa to the Belt and Road Initiative: Assembling infrastructure projects and their linkages" that was published in ...
04.22.2020 Trans-Himalayan Power Corridors: A Grounded Analysis of Nepal/China relations - Dr. Galen Murton On this episode, Erik and Juliet speak with Dr. Galen Murton - Assistant Professor at the School of Integrated Sciences at James Madison University - about how China is establishing infrastructure across one of the most unforgiving landscapes in the ...
03.30.2020 Connectivity in the Time of COVID-19: Johan van de Ven on BRI Country Responses In the rapidly evolving context of a world impacted by the novel corona virus, Johan van de Ven discusses travel bans, material aid and donations, and border restrictions between China and Belt and Road Initiative partner countries. He focuses particularly ...
03.17.2020 Protests & Diplomacy in Central Asia: Shifting Roles of China, Russia, and Europe - Oyuna Baldakova Oyuna Baldakova, a PhD Candidate at the Free University of Berlin, shares her research on Chinese investment and Belt and Road developments in Russia (Lake Baikal, Siberia) and Central Asia. She explores how conflicting interests among local elites and domestic ...
02.14.2020 Cross-Continental Connections: Disconnects and Mismatches along the China-Europe Freight Train Initiative - Dr. Linda Tjia Prof. Dr. Linda Tjia explains the costs and benefits, the links and disconnects, and the domestic and global implications of the China-Europe Freight Train Initiative which connects multiple areas of Western China through Central Asia all the way to Europe. ...
01.24.2020 China and the Taming of the Mighty Mekong - Brian Eyler Juliet discusses the book "Last Days of the Mighty Mekong" with author Brian Eyler, Senior Fellow and Director of The Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia Program. Brian shares insights into the development politics of China's (and other countries') hydropower dam construction, ...
01.09.2020 Still Outsourcing Coal But Striving for Solar: Chinese Energy Investments in Cambodia - Lili pike In this episode, Erik talks with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellow at NYU Journalism Institute - Lili Pike about China's involvement in Cambodia's energy sector, including an incredible story of a private Chinese furniture manufacturer who bought a closed-down ...
12.11.2019 More Friends, Fewer Funds Along the BRI - Cecilia Joy-Perez More and more countries have signed on to China's Belt and Road Initiative, but "the increase in political partners has not led to a comparable increase in commercial activity." Cecilia Joy Perez discusses contracting amounts of capital invested along the ...
11.14.2019 View From the Provinces: How Sub-National Politics Fuel Transnational Networks - Tim Summers Breaking from a dominant focus on national and international scales, Dr. Tim Summers discusses how the Belt and Road works through sub-national institutions, builds upon regional scale development models, and uses provincial trade and political networks within China to expand ...
11.03.2019 Chinese Investment Through the Eyes of Mozambique's Elites - Lauren Baker On this episode of the Belt and Road Podcast, Erik Myxter-iino speaks with former MacroPolo Summer Associate Lauren Baker - about her article that looks at differing opinions of governmental and non-governmental elite opinion of Chinese investment in Mozambique. Read ...
10.21.2019 Soy and Sinophobia: China's Place in Brazilian Agribusiness - Gustavo Oliveira On episode 19, Dr. Gustavo Oliveira talks about Chinese agribusiness investments in Brazil, the rising importance of the soy trade between the two countries, and the ways domestic and international business interests have fanned the flames of Sinophobia for strategic ...
09.30.2019 A Tale of Two Railroads: Financing Chinese-Built Trains in Kenya and Ethiopia - Yunnan Chen In this episode, Erik and Juliet interview Yunnan Chen (PhD candidate at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies) about two Chinese-built railway projects, one in Kenya and one in Ethiopia. The comparison between the two cases provides reflections on ...
09.19.2019 Perceptions and Practices of Chinese Hydropower Investment in Vietnam and Myanmar - Nga Dao and Vanessa Lamb From Vietnam to Myanmar, how does criticism of Chinese investment serve local politics, and how does it distract from broader environmental struggles? The Belt and Road Podcast's new co-host Juliet Lu welcomes Vanessa Lamb and Nga Dao to discuss anti-Chinese ...
09.03.2019 China’s New Debt Sustainability Framework - Ma Xinyue On episode 16 we introduce our new co-host Juliet Lu! Juliet and Erik speak with China Research and Project Leader at the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University - Ma Xinyue about her latest work on the PandaPaw DragonClaw ...
08.06.2019 How China is Changing the Development Financing Project Cycle in Latin America - Rebecca Ray On episode 15, Erik Myxter-iino talks with Postdoctoral Fellow at the Global Development and Policy Center at Boston University - Dr. Rebecca Ray Rebecca was one of the co-authors of a new report published in part by BU’s GDP center ...
07.19.2019 How Chinese Capital Alters the Calculation for Coal in Kenya - Michael Boulle On this episode, Erik speaks with Michael Boulle - Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Cape Town and Senior Researcher at the Cape Town-based consultancy - Change pathways. We discuss his latest paper - The Hazy Rise of Coal in ...
06.12.2019 The Challenge of Safeguarding People and the Environment within Chinese Investments - Mark Grimsditch Last month, the international NGO Inclusive Development International released the second version of their Safeguarding People and the Environment in Chinese Investments: A Reference Guide for Advocates. On this episode, I will talk with the lead author of the reference ...

Older episodes

The Belt and Road Podcast

What's The Belt and Road Podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The Belt and Road Podcast episodes:

The Periphery Perspective: Global China from the Borderlands with Ale Rippa

China's Growing Flirtations with International NGO Collaboration with May Farid and Hui Li

COP15 and China's Growing Environmental Leadership with Jesse Rodenbiker and Tyler Harlan

Comparing the Railway Bureaucracies in China and India with Kyle Chan

Exploring Chinese Soft Power with Maria Repnikova

Evaluating Mega Projects: The Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya with Keren Zhu

China's Global Climate Governance with Jeffrey Qi

US Strategy Regarding China's Presence in the African Continent with Winslow Robertson and Owakhela Kankhwende

The Politics of Infrastructure Maintenance and Decay w/ The Roadwork Asia Project's Agnieszka Joniak-Lüthi and Zarina Urmanbetova

The Chinese Insurance Sector and the BRI with Margaret Myers

Ammar Malik, China AidData, and the Data and Debate over Chinese Lending

Cotton Diplomacy in Central Asia: Dr. Irna Hofman on China in Tajikistan and Beyond

A Systematic Analysis of International Chinese Contractors - w/ Hong Zhang

Episode 50!! Grounded Understanding Within BRI / B3W "Competition" with Juliet & Erik

How Do Chinese Firms Approach Overseas Investment Risk? w/ Alvin Camba

The Continued Transformations of the Belt and Road Initiative w/ Jonathan Hillman

Kristen Hopewell on Chinese Agricultural Trade, Emerging Powers, and the Battle Over Export Credit

The Belt and Road from Outer Space to Underground with Julie Klinger

Mapping Global China, For and By the People with Ivan Franceschini, Stella Hongzhang and Mark Grimsditch

An In-Depth Look at the Environmental Implications of the $2bn Ghana - Sinohydro Bauxite for Infrastructure Deal with Terrence Neal and Dr. Elizabeth Losos

Kelly Chen on the Complexities of Politically Important Sovereign Debt Agreements within the BRI - A Case Study of the Laos-China Railway

Margaret Myers on China's “Multi-tiered” Approach in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region

Easy Money is Rarely Easy: Jessica Liao on Infrastructure Financing and Export Credit Agencies

Harnessing Chinese Telecommunications Investments to Ethiopia's Benefit with Ding Fei

Who Decides and How Along the Belt and Road? with Thomas Hale & Johannes Urpelainen

Lucille Greer on China's Various Engagements in the Middle East

China's Global Power Database: China's Global Power Plant Investments Data at Your Fingertips!

Without Dreams in Sihanoukville: Chinese and Cambodian Construction Labor Struggles

People-centered Power: Chinese Knowledge Production, Networks, and Training Programs in Africa - Lina Benabdallah

Green Development or Greenwashing? Tyler Harlan on China's Green Finance, Green Energy, and Green Cooperation

How Chinese Capital Alters Center-Periphery Relations in Kenya - Elisa Gambino

The History of Ethnic Chinese Garment Manufacturing in South Africa - Dr. Xu Liang

Turning Off the Tap: Tensions between China and Downstream Neighbors over Dams and Drought

The Complexities of a Chinese Dam Project in Ghana - Dr. Xiao Han

Trans-Himalayan Power Corridors: A Grounded Analysis of Nepal/China relations - Dr. Galen Murton

Connectivity in the Time of COVID-19: Johan van de Ven on BRI Country Responses

Protests & Diplomacy in Central Asia: Shifting Roles of China, Russia, and Europe - Oyuna Baldakova

Cross-Continental Connections: Disconnects and Mismatches along the China-Europe Freight Train Initiative - Dr. Linda Tjia

China and the Taming of the Mighty Mekong - Brian Eyler

Still Outsourcing Coal But Striving for Solar: Chinese Energy Investments in Cambodia - Lili pike

More Friends, Fewer Funds Along the BRI - Cecilia Joy-Perez

View From the Provinces: How Sub-National Politics Fuel Transnational Networks - Tim Summers

Chinese Investment Through the Eyes of Mozambique's Elites - Lauren Baker

Soy and Sinophobia: China's Place in Brazilian Agribusiness - Gustavo Oliveira

A Tale of Two Railroads: Financing Chinese-Built Trains in Kenya and Ethiopia - Yunnan Chen

Perceptions and Practices of Chinese Hydropower Investment in Vietnam and Myanmar - Nga Dao and Vanessa Lamb

China’s New Debt Sustainability Framework - Ma Xinyue

How China is Changing the Development Financing Project Cycle in Latin America - Rebecca Ray

How Chinese Capital Alters the Calculation for Coal in Kenya - Michael Boulle

The Challenge of Safeguarding People and the Environment within Chinese Investments - Mark Grimsditch