By Priyanka Shankar As Bangladesh prepares to hold its first elections since the overthrow of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League party in 2024, neighbours India, Pakistan and China are watching closely. Bangladesh is currently being governed by an interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. The two main parties competing for […]
Read MoreBEIJING: China and the Philippines said on Friday they launched rescue operations after receiving reports of a distressed cargo ship near the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea which was carrying 21 Philippine crew members. The Chinese military said two crew had died and 17 had been rescued, after a report around 1:30 a.m. […]
Read MoreMore than three decades after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the five Central Asian states-Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan-have emerged as pivotal actors in a renewed geopolitical contest. Rather than functioning as passive objects of external influence, these states increasingly demonstrate agency in shaping their international relations. Their foreign policies are guided by […]
Read MoreBy Sam Beltran The Philippines as Asean chair for 2026 will have to decide how much to intervene in the Thailand-Cambodia row. However, observers warn that the bar for the bloc in conflict-resolution “is not very high”. Analysts expect flare-ups throughout the year between the Southeast Asian neighbours due to long-standing historical differences, despite attempts […]
Read MoreBEIJING: South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung arrived in China on Sunday, eager to boost economic ties with Seoul’s largest trading partner while keeping a lid on potentially explosive issues such as Taiwan. Lee is the first South Korean leader to visit Beijing in six years and his four-day trip comes less than a week […]
Read MoreBy Ji Siqi in Beijing and Kandy Wong in Hong Kong In an effort to offer an alternative amid the global rise of stablecoins – cryptocurrencies pegged to a reference asset, such as a fiat currency – China’s central bank is poised to upgrade its digital yuan from a cash equivalent to “digital deposit money”. […]
Read MoreBEIJING: China launched missiles and deployed dozens of fighter aircraft and navy vessels around Taiwan on Tuesday for a second day of live-fire drills aimed at simulating a blockade of the self-ruled island’s key ports and assaults on maritime targets. The two-day war games code-named “Justice Mission 2025” have been slammed by Taipei as “highly […]
Read MoreBy Andrew Hammond The coming year will surely have some significant surprises in store, both politically and economically. However, one relatively predictable feature of the global landscape will be the launch of China’s new five-year plan, the 15th such iteration. Beijing’s five-year plans have long been defining characteristics of not just the Chinese but also the […]
Read MoreBy Orange Wang and Dannie Peng in Beijing China was ready to help Asean observers monitor the ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday, a day after Bangkok and Phnom Penh called a halt to weeks of deadly border clashes. “China supports Asean in playing its due role and […]
Read MoreChina on Saturday passed revisions to a key piece of legislation aimed at strengthening Beijing’s ability to wage trade war, curb outbound shipments from strategic minerals to sex dolls, and further open its $19 trillion economy. The latest revision to the Foreign Trade Law, approved by China’s top legislative body, will take effect on 1 […]
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