In today’s Indo-Pacific, China’s engagement with the Global South is no longer a future possibility—it is a lived reality reshaping influence, investment, and the rules of the international order. Episode 45 of Dialogue features a timely exchange with Eric Olander, Editor-in-Chief of the China Global South Project. With grounded clarity, Olander analyzes China’s expanding presence across the region—its recalibrated Belt and Road strategy, contested resource ambitions, digital influence campaigns, and the growing agency of Indo-Pacific nations navigating these dynamics.