Geography has handed the United Arab Emirates quite the quandary: its government wants to cut dependence on the Strait of Hormuz to “zero”, yet the ports that power its economy sit squarely inside the waterway it hopes to avoid. Jebel Ali and Khalifa ports collectively handle most of the UAE’s US$1 trillion in annual non-oil trade, much of which flows to and from Asia. Together, they form the single most vital link in a logistics corridor stretching from Singapore to Europe – a status not easily...
Chinese firms not only operate, finance or hold stakes in about one third of all ports in Africa, but Beijing now also controls the software, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) tools that run the infrastructure. And that reach extends well beyond the docks, with Beijing financing and operating the road, rail and warehousing networks connected to these ports and other maritime projects across the continent, closely intertwining African trade with China’s own trading systems. These are...