Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations hosts fruitful workshop on Chinese Overseas Ports in Southeast and South Asia

In mid-December 2022 in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center) hosted a 1-1/2 day workshop entitled Chinese Overseas Ports in Southeast and South Asia: Profiling Problems and Progress. This gathering, also orchestrated and funded by the Wong MNC Center, involved senior and junior academics, researchers, and policymakers from Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Myanmar, and the United States who presented their analyses of China’s naval buildup, Chinese overseas port activities in countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, and the response of countries like India and Japan to China’s involvement in overseas ports. As far as Chinese overseas ports are concerned, workshop participants showed that there is notable variation in progress and effects. The workshop highlighted the necessity of considering systematically domestic political factors, the role of 3rd parties such as the United States, and the political and economic context to illuminate more deeply what has been occurring as well as similarities and differences across multiple cases. This workshop, the second in a three-part series on Chinese ports around the world, will provide a foundation for an edited book and several policy briefs.