Alex Colville is a freelance journalist whose work has featured in The Financial Times, The Economist, and Foreign Policy Magazine, among others. He won a SOPA Award for his work with The World of Chinese in Beijing.
Solomon Islands switched its diplomatic relations to Beijing from Taipei in 2019. The two countries have signed numerous deals since then, including a recent controversial policing pact, but overall, things could be better.
Kuwait was the first Gulf state to recognize the People’s Republic of China, and has maintained a healthy economic relationship with the country ever since.
For Chile, China is a bigger destination of exports than the next five countries combined. For China, Chilean resources are crucial in sustaining its solar panel, wind turbine, and EV output. But prosperous partnerships aren’t always trusting ones.
Zambia represents one of the People's Republic of China's earliest success stories in Africa. The relationship is one that Chinese leaders past and present have tried to cultivate.
In 2017, Timor-Leste signed up to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and hosted Chinese warships in its ports. It led to fears of a political power-play by the P.R.C., with some calling Timor-Leste “Australia’s Cuba.”
In March, Honduras switched its diplomatic ties from Taipei to Beijing, a decision that President Xiomara Castro's administration said was purely pragmatic. For China, of course, establishing diplomatic ties wasn't just a way to get easier access to Honduran coffee, bananas, and seafood.
Haiti recognizes Taiwan as China’s rightful government, and has done so since 1956. Its alliance with Taiwan — one of just 13 sovereign states that maintain official diplomatic relations with Taipei instead of Beijing — makes it a pawn in a much-larger political game.
At the heart of the relationship between the People's Republic of China and the Democratic Republic of Congo is money — but a series of one-sided deals favoring China in the past may have the Congolese more cautious when it comes to negotiating (and renegotiating) deals in the future.
The China-Kyrgyzstan relationship is stronger than it's ever been in its 31-year history. This was emphasized at the recent China-Central Asia Summit, and the goodwill may result in a rekindling of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project.