The Belt and Road Podcast

Chinese 'Land Grabs' in Laos - Juliet Lu

Erik Myxter-iino / Juliet Lu Episode 7

On this episode Juliet Lu - Ph.D Candidate in the department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UC Berkeley -  is on the show to talk about her recent research on Chinese SOE and private firm land investment in Northern Laos.

Our discussion stems from her years of extensive fieldwork in Northern Laos talking with Chinese investors, Laotian officials and locals on their experience with land investments.

Juliet has published multiple articles on the subject but this episode focuses mainly on her 2017 Journal of Territory, Politics and Governance article co-authored with Oliver Schonweger entitled - Great Expectations: Chinese investment in Laos and the myth of empty land.


Recommendations:

Juliet: The Specter of Global China: Politics, Labor, and Foreign Investment in Africa by Ching Kwan Lee, and Why is everyone so busy? - In search of lost time a 2014 article in The Economist on free time and why there seems to be so little of it. 


Erik: Venezuela and China: A Perfect Storm by Matt Ferchen, an article by Nonresident Scholar  @MattFerchen of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy. 

Erik's second recommendation: Adopt an animal.