Does Covid-19 tip the scales in China's geopolitical ambition?

July 8, 2020

Our senior fellows Marcus Freitas and Len Ishmael, both experts in Asian affairs, discuss the geopolitical ambitions of China in the current – Covid-19- context. During a webinar our experts address the following issues : 1 - China's use of crises to deepen and extend power and influence - looking at the financial collapse of 2008 using Europe as an example; 2 - Taking a look at the covid-19 pandemic - and how this has been used by China to influence external opinion - and how the backlash against China has also served to deepen nationalism back home, in Beijing; 3 - A wider look at how American allies and those in the Global South are choosing sides - or choosing not to; 4 - Some observations about the future.

Speakers
Marcus Vinicius de Freitas
Senior Fellow
Marcus Vinicius De Freitas is Senior Fellow at Policy Center for the New South, focusing on International Law, International Relations and Brazil, and is currently a Visiting Professor of International Law and International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, China. Previously, he was a Professor of The Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation in Sao Paulo, where he served as the coordinator of their International Relations Program from December 2012 until December 2013. He was president of the Sao Paulo Directorate of the Progressive Party, having run for vice governor of the State of Sao Paulo in 2010, where his party polled in third place with more than 1.2 million votes. He also served as the Administrative Director of the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Housing Co ...
Len Ishmael
Senior Fellow
Ambassador, Dr. Len Ishmael is a Senior Fellow of the Policy Center for the New South and a Senior Fellow and Distinguished Visiting Scholar of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. She is the Global Affairs Advisor of the Brussels Diplomatic Academy and visiting Professor of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the Mohammed 6 University, Morocco. Dr. Ishmael is a Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on COVID-19’s Regional Task Force for Latin America. She is the former Ambassador of the Eastern Caribbean States to the Kingdom of Belgium and European Union, and past President of the 79-member African, Caribbean & Pacific (ACP) Committee of Ambassadors in Brussels. She is a former Director & Head of the Regional Headquarters of the United Nations Economic ...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Authors
    Alice Ekman
    February 1, 2013
    Ces deux dernières années ont été marquées par les mouvements de protestation dans le monde arabe. Ces mouvements ont été suivis avec la plus grande attention par les autorités chinoises, préoccupées à la fois par les conséquences intérieures, sur l’opinion publique et la stabilité politique du pays, et extérieures, sur les intérêts économiques et les ressortissants chinois présents en Afrique du Nord. Mais ces mouvements ont-ils changé la perception et les orientations stratégiques ...
  • Authors
    Emiliano Alessandri
    William Inboden
    Dhruva Jaishankar
    Joseph Quinlan
    Andrew Small
    Amy Studdart
    December 1, 2012
    This policy paper examines the role of China and India in Latin America and Africa, and the implications for the United States and Europe. China and India have arrived as active players in the Southern Atlantic space. Their economic presence is expanding rapidly, with a focus on their acquisition of — and access to — raw materials such as fossil fuels, minerals, and agricultural commodities. The political and security implications of their arrival in the region is only now coming u ...
  • Authors
    Françoise Nicolas
    January 1, 2011
    La montée en puissance de la Chine et de l’Inde domine les débats économiques depuis quelques années déjà. Poursuivant une stratégie d’internationalisation résolue, les entreprises chinoises et indiennes sont désormais présentes dans bon nombre de régions du globe. Ce dynamisme n’a pas manqué de susciter des inquiétudes mais aussi des espoirs, notamment dans le monde en développement, où ces deux pays sont perçus comme des partenaires potentiellement plus bienveillants que les pays ...