Ji Hongbo and Denghua Zhang - Insider Perspectives on Chinese Aid
b'Welcome to Episode 80 of Good Will Hunters from the Development Policy Centre. The focus of today\\u2019s episode is Chinese Aid, with our guests Ji Hongbo and Denghua Zhang.\\n\\nChina\\u2019s aid has been on the rise for years, not only in the Pacific, but around the world. And with China-US rivalry taken to a new level as a result of COVID-19, China\\u2019s aid is set to become more important and more controversial than ever.\\n \\nWe often hear from experts on China about Chinese aid, but rarely from Chinese experts themselves. Yet given China\\u2019s complexity, not to mention the language barriers, hearing from those who understand the country and its systems is obviously critical\\n \\nIn this episode I chat with two experts who have both worked in the past for China\\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ji Hongbo is the Asia Foundation\\u2019s Country Representative in China, in Canberra for the year at the ANU, but normally based in Beijing. Hongbo\\u2019s prior experience includes 5 years of diplomatic experience with China\\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including an assignment to the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations in New York.\\n \\nDenghua Zhang is a Research Fellow in the Department of Pacific Affairs at the ANU. He completed his PhD on Chinese Foreign Aid and Trilateral Aid Cooperation in 2017, and recently released a book with ANU Press titled \\u2018A Cautious Approach: China\\u2019s Growing Trilateral Aid Cooperation\\u2019. You can access it here - \\nhttps://press.anu.edu.au/publications/series/pacific-affairs/cautious-new-approach \\n\\nHongbo and I discuss China\\u2019s approach to international aid and development, including their focus on bilateral engagement over trilateral or multilateral engagement. We also discuss the rise of NGOs in China, and the independence of these NGOs as they attempt to implement government-funded projects. We discuss what traditional donors can learn from China and vice versa. Lastly we discuss how Chinese aid is responding to Covid-19.\\n \\nDenghua and I discuss China\\u2019s approach to the Pacific, and why China is so interested in the Pacific. We address claims of debt-trap diplomacy and deepening military and security ties. We also discuss whether China can realistically collaborate with Australia on aid delivery on an ongoing basis.\\n \\nIn this episode you\\u2019ll hear some real insider perspectives on Chinese aid. It\\u2019s a rare opportunity, and I hope it promotes the sort of understanding we\\u2019re going to need as a globe if we are to successfully navigate China\\u2019s rise to superpower status.\\n \\nFor more coverage of Chinese aid to the Pacific, including artcles by Denghua and Hongbo, visit the Devpolicy blog at devpolicy.org. Recent articles on Chinese aid include:\\n\\nhttps://devpolicy.org/the-new-chinese-aid-agency-after-its-first-two-years-20200422-2/\\n\\nhttps://devpolicy.org/chinas-coronavirus-covid-19-diplomacy-in-the-pacific-20200527-1/\\n\\nhttps://devpolicy.org/covid-19-and-chinas-soft-power-ambitions-20200424-2/\\n \\nYou\\u2019d also be aware that the Government released a strategy a few days ago, outlining Australia\\u2019s response to Covid-19 in the region. We\\u2019ll be bringing you more coverage and analysis of that soon.\\n\\nEnjoy,\\nThe GWH Team'