China has reassured the Taliban that it is ready to begin development activities in Afghanistan via its ambitious multi-trillion-dollar Belt and Road initiative (BRI), as the war-torn country drifts toward an economic meltdown. Read More Here
Amid an escalating new Cold War, the Biden administration is mobilizing allies and partners to slow China’s technological strides and arrest its rising global influence. In particular, the US has doubled down on reviving the so-called Blue Dot Network, a long-dormant initiative launched by the previous Trump administration to counter Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative […]
Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced Canberra was canceling two agreements by Victoria, the country’s second most populous state, to participate in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. She said they were “inconsistent with Australia’s foreign policy or –adverse to our foreign relations” but did not elaborate. Read Here | Asia Times
Pakistan’s army is set to take near-total control of the Beijing-financed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a US$60 billion infrastructure building plan replete with railways, roads, ports and special economic zones (SEZs) that is key to China’s global Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Read Here | Asia Times
The security, economic and social rationale of both central and municipal governments are understandable. However, this difference of interests on China between a capital and local governments is a not a new phenomenon and it exists globally. Such a split can also be seen in China itself, where local government priorities may differ from those […]
To better understand the future of China’s role in Central Asia, and the world, you need to come to Khargos in Kazakhstan, the middle of nowhere. Straddling the Kazakh-Chinese border, a collection of cranes, railways, and buildings rises out of a barren stretch of desert surrounded by towering mountains to form the backbone of the […]
China’s infrastructure and energy driven US$1 trillion Belt and Road initiative involves risky bets across a swath of land populated by often illiberal or autocratic governments exercising power without independent checks and balances. Seeking to reduce risk, China is bumping up against the limits of its own long-standing foreign and defence policy principles, foremost among […]
The admiration of India’s attempt to engage China through the Modi-Xi Wuhan informal meeting has faded away in recent months, prompting some to ask: Did the Wuhan Summit provide India with any tangible outcome? A cursory response to the question seems a no if recent developments are taken into consideration. Read Here – The Indian […]
The fact is that China has grown strong and rich by flouting international trade rules. But now its chickens are coming home to roost, with a growing number of countries imposing antidumping or punitive duties on Chinese goods. And as countries worry about China bending them to its will by luring them into debt traps, […]
looking beyond borders 