Eric Olander

Journalist and media entrepreneur specialising in China’s engagement with the Global South. Co-founder and editor-in-chief of The China Global South Project (formerly the China Africa Project), which produces the China in Africa and China Global South podcasts. Based in Hawaii.

Considered one of the leading English-language voices on China-Africa and China-ASEAN economic and diplomatic relations.

Appearances

• Kaiser Kuo, Eric Olander, Andrew Polk, and Lizzy Lee on the Geneva Trade Truce, the J-10C Dogfight, and China in Latin America (China Talking Points Ep 1, May 2025)
• Kaiser Kuo, Eric Olander, and Andrew Polk on China's 15th Five-Year Plan, ASEAN Realignment, and the Collapse of the Trade Truce (China Talking Points Ep 2, May 2025)

Key positions

• China has invested consistently in ASEAN and Global South forums for 20–30 years; that patience is now paying strategic dividends as the US-China bifurcation forces smaller states to choose or hedge.
• BRICS is a “forum for grievance” but grievance-based convening has real strategic value: it enables bilateral conversations between states that could not otherwise meet formally.
• Prabowo’s Jakarta speech invoking shared colonial trauma between Indonesia and China signals a significant shift in Global South geopolitical alignment.