Via The Diplomat, an article on China’s increasing close relationship with Iran: China’s purchases of Iranian oil climbed to record highs in 2021, according to data from Refinitiv, a global provider of financial market data. Over the past 14 months, Iran sent 17.8 million tonnes (approximated 306,000 barrels per day) of crude oil to China. Three-quarters of […]
Read more »Via Silk Road Briefing, an article on China’s latest BRI priorities: Schemes provide seaport access for Tibet and Sichuan to ASEAN Possible future access to India via Nyingtri Guangxi coast will see huge Port development Implications also for Hainan Island Opens up access to China’s hinterlands of 280 million people The recent ‘Two Sessions’ meetings […]
Read more »Via South China Morning Post, an article on a new China-Laos railway that some believe is an important piece in the greater prize of infrastructure access to Southeast Asia: In southwestern China’s Yunnan province, there is great fanfare around the construction of a mega-railway link to neighbouring Laos, Southeast Asia’s only landlocked country and one of its least developed. […]
Read more »Courtesy of Foreign Policy, commentary on how – as Sri Lanka shows – when it comes to Chinese debt, small states have agency and great powers have responsibilities: In the last few years, the question of whether China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is predatory has been ripe for debate, with some arguing the loans Beijing […]
Read more »Via Silk Road Briefing, an OpEd on China’s Belt and Road Initiative: China’s moves into Africa are in fact a great case study into how the Belt & Road Initiative actually works. While most of the media commentary has been on the infrastructure, there is rather a lot more at play. In this article, I […]
Read more »Via The Frontier Post, an article on China’s growing influence in Central Asia and the Caspian region: The collapse of the Soviet Union allowed China to envision a land-based trade and energy network that would be free from dependence on Russia or the United States. Now, amid conflicts in the South China Sea and Taiwan […]
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