Security Implications of China's Belt and Road Initiative

The National Bureau of Asian Research published in September 2019 a special study titled "Securing the Belt and Road Initiative: China's Evolving Military Engagement Along the Silk Roads" edited by Nadege Rolland, National Bureau of Asian Research.

The seven essays in this study offer a comprehensive look at current Chinese thinking on how to respond to the security risks associated with the global expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), including into Africa. These contributions present a view of the set of options that are under consideration to enhance the security of China's interests along the BRI routes. Common to all seven essays is the idea that the expansion of China's overseas interests naturally creates the need for military protection.

China Turns to Private Security Companies

The Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) published on 17 August 2018 an analysis titled "The Internationalization of China's Private Security Companies: Guardians of the Belt and Road" by Meia Mouwens, IISS, and Helena Legarda, MERICS.

This study looks at the growing use by China of private security companies (PSCs) to protect its interests overseas, including in Africa where they have been used in Sudan, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. This is a relatively new concept for China. The PSCs are not regulated and linked indirectly to the Communist Party of China through their recruitment almost exclusively of PLA veterans.

UN Monitoring Group Report on Somalia and Eritrea

The approved 330 page report of the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea has been released. It is my understanding that it does not differ significantly from at least two previously leaked versions of the report. The coordinator of the report was Canadian national Matt Bryden. He does not intend to coordinate the next report.

Based on the earlier leaked reports, the international press focused on two issues: massive corruption in the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the fact that Eritrea has significantly reduced its support for al-Shabaab.

For coverage of Eritrea's reduced support for al-Shabaab, click here to read Aaron Maasho's report in Reuters. For coverage of corruption in the TFG, click here to read Jason Straziuso's account in the Associated Press and click here to read the TFG's response as reported by the BBC.

If you are up to all 330 pages of the UN report, click here. It contains a wealth of information.