China’s top two leaders went to Southeast Asia last week with a message of regional economic integration, promising to build a “maritime silk road” (haishang sichou zhi lu) across the South China Sea (China News Service, October 3; Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, October 9).... MORE

Over the last few months, Mongolia has hosted or taken part in several multi-national military exercises with the aim to develop the Mongolian army’s peacekeeping abilities, as well as a way to leverage military-to-military ties as a tool of diplomacy. On August 10–13, Mongolia held... MORE

A joint declaration on strategic partnership was among several agreements that were signed following talks in Bishkek between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Kyrgyz Republic counterpart, Almazbek Atambaev, on September 11. Atambaev told reporters that the signed documents also include agreements on Chinese... MORE

Mongolian Prime Minister Norov Altankhuyag’s September 11–14, 2013 trip to Japan, his first overseas visit since becoming head of government in 2012, underscored the new vibrancy in Mongolian-Japanese relations. This visit reciprocated the very successful one of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Ulaanbaatar in... MORE

In less than two years, China-U.S. military relations have experienced a remarkable turnaround. President Xi Jinping in particular has expressed strong support for developing more military exchanges as part of his concept of a “new type great power relationship” between the People’s Republic of China... MORE

The Xi Jinping leadership has started an ideological movement among party members and citizens that is geared toward promoting hard-line socialist values and absolute obedience to Beijing’s edicts. While the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Rectification Campaign, announced earlier this year, was focused mainly on nurturing... MORE

Fallen Chinese leader Bo Xilai was sentenced to life in prison on Sunday, September 22 on charges of corruption, abuse of power and bribery (Jinan Intermediate People’s Court, September 22). The verdict represents an end to the most politically explosive episode in China’s recent history,... MORE

For the People’s Republic of China, its relationship with Guyana has been one of its longest, most consistently close relationships in Latin America and the Caribbean. Yet, between June and August 2013, Chinese companies lost almost a billion dollars in work in the country, including... MORE

Since coming into office in late 2013–early 2013, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has staked out political territory as an advocate of economic reform. His signature policy initiative is a “new type of urbanization,” described by Xinhua as an effort to boost consumption by getting local... MORE

The international consortium developing Kazakhstan’s super-giant offshore oilfield Kashagan is now on course to start commercial production by October 1, the final deadline set by Kazakhstan’s government. Meeting that deadline will enable the consortium to avoid financial penalties that the government could have imposed in... MORE