The Syria connection to Iran, Afghanistan and China
Iranian academic spells out Iran's position in the Middle East and questions US policy toward the region; amid reports that the Qods force is unlikely to disband, and that Daesh (ISIS) is being moved the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. (Asia Times)
A gantry crane loads cargo onto a freight train bound for Central Asia at the Jiaozhou Bay International Logistics Harbour in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, May 7, 2018. As of Tuesday, a total of 3039 freight trains from China to Central Asian countries have departed from Qingdao, a nodal city on the economic corridor linking China, Central Asia and Europe. (Xinhua)
Trans-Pacific View author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy. This conversation with Harrison Akins – Research Fellow at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee who specializes in South Asian politics – is the 141st in “The Trans-Pacific View Insight Series.” (The Diplomat)
A short hike from the fishing village of Brijesta, where the Croatian mainland’s rocky coastline across the bay melts into the Adriatic, a four-story concrete pier scrapes the blue horizon.The hulking eyesore is part of an abandoned bridge project, an ever-present reminder of how the forces of history and squabbling politicians failed a region of about 100,000 people. It now has become a new symbol: where the benefits of European Union membership converge with China’s expanding influence. (Bloomberg)
China, CEE countries see steady trade growth in 2017
China, CEE countries see steady trade growth in 2017
Trade between China and Central Eastern Europe (CEE) countries grew steadily in 2017, the Ministry of Commerce said over the weekend. Trade volume between China and 16 CEE countries reached 68 billion US dollars last year, up 15.9% year on year. (Xinhua)
China reaches out to Germany to ease worries about eastern Europe foray
In a meeting with his German counterpart Heiko Maas in Berlin on Thursday, Wang said Beijing was considering trilateral cooperation with Germany and the central and eastern European countries in the “16+1” grouping led by China. (Scmp)
China has turned Xinjiang into a police state like no other
Adrian Zenz of the European School of Culture and Theology in Kortal, Germany, has looked at procurement contracts for 73 re-education camps. He found their total cost to have been 682m yuan ($108m), almost all spent since April 2017. Records from Akto, a county near the border with Kyrgyzstan, say it spent 9.6% of its budget on security (including camps) in 2017. In 2016 spending on security in the province was five times what it had been in 2007. By the end of 2017 it was ten times that: 59bn yuan.(Economist)
PetroChina to spend 5.3 bln yuan on Chongqing gas storage
China reaches out to Germany to ease worries about eastern Europe foray
In a meeting with his German counterpart Heiko Maas in Berlin on Thursday, Wang said Beijing was considering trilateral cooperation with Germany and the central and eastern European countries in the “16+1” grouping led by China. (Scmp)
China has turned Xinjiang into a police state like no other
Adrian Zenz of the European School of Culture and Theology in Kortal, Germany, has looked at procurement contracts for 73 re-education camps. He found their total cost to have been 682m yuan ($108m), almost all spent since April 2017. Records from Akto, a county near the border with Kyrgyzstan, say it spent 9.6% of its budget on security (including camps) in 2017. In 2016 spending on security in the province was five times what it had been in 2007. By the end of 2017 it was ten times that: 59bn yuan.(Economist)
PetroChina to spend 5.3 bln yuan on Chongqing gas storage
XinhuaChina is aiming to turn hundreds of wells, including in mountainous Chongqing, into storage facilities for gas piped over from Myanmar and Turkmenistan, after a severe winter supply crunch left it short of the clean-burning fuel. (Reuters)
Siberian forests and their destruction
China’s green Belt and Road tested at the Russian border / ChinaDialogue
“Facing growing demand for wood and shortages in domestic supply, Chinese authorities are pushing for greater imports from Russia, ignoring the fact that its neighbor will cease to be a reliable supplier within a decade… Nowadays, mature forests in Russia are scarce.”
Europe-bound freight trains via Alataw Pass exceed 5,000
Siberian forests and their destruction
China’s green Belt and Road tested at the Russian border / ChinaDialogue
“Facing growing demand for wood and shortages in domestic supply, Chinese authorities are pushing for greater imports from Russia, ignoring the fact that its neighbor will cease to be a reliable supplier within a decade… Nowadays, mature forests in Russia are scarce.”
Europe-bound freight trains via Alataw Pass exceed 5,000
More than 5,000 China-Europe freight trains have travelled through Alataw Pass, a major rail port in northwest China, local customs said Monday.Alataw Pass in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is one of the busiest land ports on the modern Silk Road and connects the East Asia economic rim and the European economic circle. (Xinhua)
Chinese-Russian Defense and Security Ties: Countering US Encirclement
China recently announced plans to contribute to Russian support of the Assad regime in Syria, just one of many ways in which Chinese-Russian security ties have strengthened over the past five years. Since the early 2010s, the two countries have been brought together by common threat perceptions and similar outlooks on the international security environment. Both claim to share a similar political ideology that centers on state sovereignty and non-interference, and each fears encirclement by the United States. These shared threat perceptions have led to an increased number of combined military exercises, more advanced military-technical cooperation, frequent high-level military-to-military contact, and unified stances on regional security issues across Asia. (Jamestown Foundation)
Fate of Chinese dam project up in the air after Nepal ministers send mixed signals
Confusion about the fate of a Chinese-funded mega dam deepened on Tuesday as Nepalese ministers apparently contradicted each other about whether the US$1.8 billion deal would go ahead.Fate of Chinese dam project up in the air after Nepal ministers send mixed signals. (Scmp)
Kyrgyzstan: Jeenbekov goes to Beijing with China the talk of Bishkek
Top allies of the former president's predecessor are under investigation over their dealings with a Chinese company. (Eurasianet)
China looks to bolster militancy fight at security summit
Top allies of the former president's predecessor are under investigation over their dealings with a Chinese company. (Eurasianet)
China looks to bolster militancy fight at security summit
SCO Member countries have destroyed more than 500 training bases for armed militants and arrested some 2,000 members of “international terrorist organizations” between 2013 and 2017, Xinhua said. (Reuters)
CENTRAL ASIA
Kazakh Leader To Become Life-Long Security Council Chairman
President Nursultan Nazarbayev is expected to sign into law a bill that would allow him to lead the country's security council for life (RFE/RL). Critics of the bill say it is a means for Nazarbayev to hold onto power after leaving office.
Europe’s Pivot to Central Asia
Both Astana and Tashkent are demonstrating the potential that middle-ranking powers can have. Raffaello Pantucci raises some good points (Rusi)
A girl and her eagle help bridge Mongolian ethnic divisions
Documentary on huntress sparks interest in once-spurned minority. (Nikkei)
Foreign companies struggle in cash-strapped Turkmenistan
ALMATY/ANKARA (Reuters) - Some foreign companies in Turkmenistan are struggling to make sales and collect payments as economic pressures mount in large part because of a sharp drop in the Central Asian nation’s crucial gas exports. (Reuters)
Peter Frankopan on Kazakhstan and the new Silk Road
Why history matters more than ever in Astana, a city younger than Google. (FT)
CENTRAL ASIA
Kazakh Leader To Become Life-Long Security Council Chairman
President Nursultan Nazarbayev is expected to sign into law a bill that would allow him to lead the country's security council for life (RFE/RL). Critics of the bill say it is a means for Nazarbayev to hold onto power after leaving office.
Europe’s Pivot to Central Asia
Both Astana and Tashkent are demonstrating the potential that middle-ranking powers can have. Raffaello Pantucci raises some good points (Rusi)
A girl and her eagle help bridge Mongolian ethnic divisions
Documentary on huntress sparks interest in once-spurned minority. (Nikkei)
Foreign companies struggle in cash-strapped Turkmenistan
ALMATY/ANKARA (Reuters) - Some foreign companies in Turkmenistan are struggling to make sales and collect payments as economic pressures mount in large part because of a sharp drop in the Central Asian nation’s crucial gas exports. (Reuters)
Peter Frankopan on Kazakhstan and the new Silk Road
Why history matters more than ever in Astana, a city younger than Google. (FT)
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