South East Asia

China looms large in Turkey’s controversial waterway project

Turkey is reportedly gearing up to partner with China in the construction of an artificial waterway parallel to the Bosporus, a project with likely implications for Russia and the United States in the Black Sea. While Turkey remains stuck between the West and Russia on a number of strategic issues, …

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China Sanctions Intensify, Escalating Trade Risks – Analysis

Western trade and investment interests in China are facing new threats as sanctions trigger retaliation, heightening tensions over human rights, national security and territorial control. Since the start of President Joseph R. Biden’s term in office on Jan. 20, there have been several exchanges of new sanctions announced by the …

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Chinese Incursions In South China Sea Heightens Tension – Analysis

China’s increasing incursions in the contested South China Sea in defiance of global norms has heightened tensions in the region. In view of its massive military muscle and economic power that China has accumulated in the recent decades emboldens it to ignore and violate the sensitivities of other small claimants …

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Energy Partnership Bolsters China–Russia Relations – Analysis

Russia’s Novatek and China’s Shenergy signed a new gas deal in February 2021, highlighting the primacy of energy ties in China–Russia relations. Under the provisions of the agreement, Novatek will ship around 3 million tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Shenergy’s Shanghai terminals over the next 15 …

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A Geopolitical Perspective On China’s Financial Sector Opening-Up – Analysis

In recent years, the dual factors of anti-globalization movement and intensifying geopolitical frictions have presented China’s economy a very different external environment compares with that in the past. In response to such change, China has begun to adjust its development priorities and strategies, with the “internal circulation” being the result …

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How Rising Great Power Tensions Will Affect Central Asia – Analysis

The recent escalation in diplomatic tensions between the U.S., EU, China, and Russia is an unwelcome development for Central Asia. With the recent complicated visit to Moscow by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell marred by aggressive bilateral rhetoric, the White …

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Chinese Drones Fly Near Taiwan-held Island in South China Sea

Taiwan said Wednesday that it is willing to shoot down Chinese drones that have been flying near Taiwan-occupied Pratas Island in the South China Sea, a response to what analysts view as the latest pressure tactic from Beijing. Ocean Affairs Council Chair Lee Chung-wei told Taiwan’s legislature that the Taiwanese …

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China Uses Money, Diplomacy to Push Back Against US in Southeast Asia

The Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has wrapped up his second series of meetings so far this year with Southeast Asia leaders to discuss vaccine distribution, help with post-pandemic recovery and other offers that experts say could sway countries in the pivotal subregion toward China and away from growing U.S. …

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Afghan Army Retakes Key Southern District From Taliban

fghan security forces have recaptured a key district from the Taliban in the southern Kandahar Province in an operation that killed and wounded dozens of militants, the Ministry of Defense said on April 5. Local officials also confirmed that the Arghandab district in the outskirts of the provincial capital, Kandahar …

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