Via The Diplomat, a look at the expansion of private Chinese security companies in Central Asia: As Kyrgyz President Soornbay Jennbekov pushed efforts to make the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway a reality, a private Chinese security company signed deals to protect the contested project for China Railway Group. The 2016 Chinese embassy bombing in Bishkek heightened risk perception among […]
Read more »Via The Geopolitical Monitor, a look at the geopolitics around the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB): In June 2015, the creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was agreed to by representatives of 50 countries in Beijing, China. The Bank started operating in January 2016 and its first four loans – totaling USD 509 […]
Read more »Via The Asia Times, an article on China’s efforts to build a China-centered transnational network infrastructure to reboot globalization Geopolitics is all about leverage and geo-economics is all about bargaining on the leverage. The relative peace in the world today exists between the thin line of leverage and bargain, especially in the case of the ongoing […]
Read more »Courtesy of STATFOR (subscription required), a detailed look at Gwadar and Chabahar: China’s expansion across South Asia and the Indian Ocean under its Belt and Road Initiative will drive India’s own regional outreach, heightening the importance of New Delhi’s infrastructure projects such as the Chabahar port in Iran. However, the threat of U.S. sanctions and […]
Read more »Via Foreign Policy, three very interesting graphical analyses of Beijing’s growing interest in the Middle East and North Africa: Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded the latest high-level Belt and Road gathering of world leaders in Beijing last month, China’s signature project has seemingly entered a new phase: worldwide acceptance of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) […]
Read more »Courtesy of The Economist, a look at Chinese investment in the Middle East: There is not much to see for the first 500km south of Oman’s capital, Muscat, as the highway slices through the Hajar mountains and down a barren coast. Then it hits Duqm, a sleepy fishing village that is being transformed into a […]
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