Russian President Vladimir Putin had long requested a meeting with North Korea’s youngish leader, Kim Jong-un, but it was only in mid-April that Russian diplomatic persuasion started to show promise. And a good-neighborly handshake between the two men finally took place in Vladivostok last week... MORE

Introduction In late March, the China Communist Youth League (Gongchan Zhuyi Qingnian Tuan, 共产主义青年团), or CCYL, released an official document that detailed plans to recruit large numbers of young people for work programs in rural areas of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The document,... MORE

Introduction In March 2019, Italy and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) signed a broad and comprehensive, albeit not legally binding, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Italy to join the Chinese-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This has triggered a significant debate—in Brussels as well... MORE

Introduction: “Operation Car Wash” and Infrastructure Projects in Latin America Brazil’s “Operation Car Wash” bribery probe, which began in 2014, has caused major upheavals in both Latin American politics and the region’s infrastructure sector. Operation Car Wash began in March 2014 as an investigation into... MORE

Introduction—China’s Stalled Dam Project in Myanmar On January 12th, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Myanmar issued a statement warning Myanmar that if it failed to resolve the dispute over the stalled Myitsone Hydropower Dam project in Myanmar’s northern state of... MORE

Introduction—Ethnic Conflict in Xinjiang and the Government’s Response Over the past year, political re-education camps in the western Xinjiang Province of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have attracted much international attention due to allegations that hundreds of thousands of Uighur Muslims are being detained... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here.   Ashgabat undoubtedly sees Russia’s decision to restart the procurement of Turkmenistani natural gas as a welcome opportunity to diversify Turkmenistan’s gas export markets. At present, China holds the monopsony on Turkmenistani gas supplies. In the course of... MORE

The spokesperson for Gazprom, Sergey Kupriyanov, stated, on April 15, that the company had resumed gas imports from Turkmenistan (News Central Asia, April 16). His announcement was immediately confirmed by a statement from TurkmenGaz, Turkmenistan’s state natural gas company (Oilgas.gov.tm, April 15). Discussion on the... MORE

Introduction In March, the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference both convened their full annual sessions in Beijing. Collectively known as the “Two Sessions” (Lianghui, 两会), the annual meetings of these bodies comprise two of the largest annual events on the... MORE

Introduction—Could the Seventh Generation Be the Next in Power? Much of China’s future lies in the hands of cadres born in the 1970s—officials belonging to the “Seventh Generation” (7G) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In the last quarter of 2018, a dozen-odd of these... MORE