Global China’s Underbelly: Transnational Organized Crime and China’s Regional Engagement in Southeast Asia

In this interview, Ivan Franceschini (University of Botswana) discusses the following questions:

1. Your book, ‘Global China as Method,’ challenges the view of China as an isolated entity with unique systems. How does this new perspective contribute to our understanding of China’s position in the world?

2. Your concept of ‘Global China’s underbelly’ highlights activities such as organized crime and money laundering. How does this impact our understanding of China’s global engagement, and why should it receive more academic attention?

3. Could you provide specific examples or research findings that illuminate the significance and role of this aspect of Global China, particularly within the online scam industry?

Ivan Franceschini is a Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Botswana. His latest books include Xinjiang Year Zero (co-edited with Darren Byler and Nicholas Loubere, ANU Press 2022), Proletarian China: A Century of Chinese Labour (co-edited with Christian Sorace, Verso Books 2022), and Global China as Method (co-authored with Nicholas Loubere, Cambridge University Press 2022). With Tommaso Facchin, he co-directed the documentaries Dreamwork China (2011) and Boramey: Ghosts in the Factory (2021). He is a founder and chief editor of the Made in China Journal, The People’s Map of Global China, and Global China Pulse. Ivan has been conducting research on Chinese engagements in Cambodia since the early 2010s, with a particular focus on issues related to labour rights and, most recently, Chinese organised crime.

This video was recorded as part of our ENLIGHT workshop ‘More than a Distant Relative: China and its Neighbors in an Increasingly Turbulent World.’