The Afghan president‘s push to delay a security pact with the U.S. has undermined confidence in Afghanistan’s future, testing international support for the country at a crucial moment, the U.S.-led coalition’s top commander said. Read Here – WSJ
The roadmap for China’s foreign exchange reforms has now come into focus, following the recent conclusion of the landmark Third Plenum, which outlined the blueprint that is set to shape the direction of economic reforms in the world’s second-largest economy for the next decade. Read Here – The Diplomat
To be sure, Russia and Japan are not natural security partners. In the twentieth century, they fought two wars against each other, first in 1904–05, and again in 1945. Japan seized territory from Russia in the first; Russia seized territory from Japan in the second. In the following decades, the two countries largely kept their […]
Gold’s burnished appeal in China stems in part from a lack of alternative investments. While the MSCI All-Country World Index of equities rose 18 percent this year through Nov. 22, the Shanghai Composite Index slumped 3.2 percent. Policymakers clamped down on property investments in March to cool the housing market, ordering the central bank to raise down-payment requirements […]
In reality China has made plain that, while it is happy to bully lesser states such as the Philippines, it has little appetite yet for an open confrontation with the United States which can still–but for how much longer?–bring overwhelming naval and air assets to bear in the western Pacific. Read Here – Commentary
The recent Third Plenum of the 18th Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee inaugurated a number of significant reforms. Among the most interesting developments is China’s establishment of a new “State Security Committee” (SSC), an important step in further centralizing power into the hands of the party’s top leadership. Read Here – The Diplomat
Most concrete walls in Sri Lanka have been demolished in the past four years since the ethnic war ended, but the emotional barricades remain as the country battles its bloody past and tries to make peace with itself. It’s easier said than done. Read Here – ThisDayAndThat
China’s 850 cities are witnessing the largest urbanization movement in human history. By 2025 China is expected to have 221 cities with over a million inhabitants and 23 cities with more than 5 million people. Such explosive urban growth is straining Chinese infrastructure. Read Here – The Diplomat
Yes, Bitcoin is what some call a deflationary currency. Because the system was designed to allow the creation of only a finite number of bitcoins, there will come a point where, as demand rises, the value of the currency will only go up (making the price of goods and services fall, hence the term deflation). And that could […]
In the latest move in China’s anti-waste campaign, central authorities have issued rules to standardise fund management and ban Party and government extravagance Read Here – China Daily
looking beyond borders 