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Belt and Road

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Neighbourhood watch

How did China react to the recent political unrest in Kazakhstan
Jan 21, 2022 (WiC 570)

On January 2 fury at a massive hike in petrol prices in Kazakhstan spilled over into street protests. The demonstrations began in Zhanaozen, an oil producing city near the Caspian Sea, and quickly spread to the country’s largest city, Almaty, ...

The Vientiane Express

Who benefits most from China’s just opened $6 billion train line in Laos?
Dec 10, 2021 (WiC 567)

Buddhist monks, a lucky gong and a video call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping were all part of the celebrations as Laos formally launched its $6 billion rail link with China last week. Timed to coincide with the 46th anniversary of the Lao ...

Sino-Aussie ties worsen further over BRI deal
Apr 30, 2021 (WiC 538)

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is inspired by the ancient Silk Road, which stimulated trade and cultural exchange for thousands of miles between China and Europe. Quite whether the merchants of old ever reached Australia is open to ...

At the coalface

China blocks funding to coal power in Bangladesh but not at home
Mar 19, 2021 (WiC 532)

Bangladesh’s bet on coal-fired power is a contentious choice for a low-lying country prone to flooding. Perhaps that was why it said it was reconsidering the 29 coal power plants in the development pipeline last year, although there were also ...

The missing link

Slow progress for China’s ‘Pan-Asian’ railway
Nov 6, 2020 (WiC 517)

Will China’s new railway through Southeast Asia learn much from its African predecessor, the Cape to Cairo railroad championed by nineteenth century businessman Cecil Rhodes? Policymakers in Beijing won’t welcome the comparisons to the ...

Not quite to plan

Covid-19 chaos puts the brakes on BRI projects
Jul 10, 2020 (WiC 503)

Lending for infrastructure projects in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is so opaque that there is no real consensus on the total loans outstanding. Best guesses start at $200 billion and often head sharply upwards. What’s clearer is ...

Foreign affairs

Study buddy programme proves controversial
Jul 26, 2019 (WiC 461)

In the Practical Chinese Reader – a textbook commonly used to teach Chinese – there are three main characters: Gubo, Palanka and Ding Yun. Gubo and Palanka are international students said to have arrived in Beijing in the 1970s. ...

Getting back on track

Xi Jinping presses reboot button at the Belt and Road Forum
May 3, 2019 (WiC 450)

Tone down the rhetoric, improve the oversight and show more of the results. For months that’s been the advice on offer to Belt and Road policymakers and there were signs that the message was getting through as dozens of state leaders joined ...

All roads lead to Rome

Xi Jinping hopes that his trip to Italy will give the BRI a boost
Mar 22, 2019 (WiC 445)

The sentiment surrounding China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has soured sharply over the last 18 months with headlines about projects that haven’t materialised, loans that don’t look sustainable and recipient nations that want to ...

Malaysian malaise

More negative headlines for China’s BRI
Jan 18, 2019 (WiC 437)

“Light is good from whatever lamp it shines,” is the advice of a Chinese proverb. But a small group behind Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) shrank from the spotlight when the Wall Street Journal alleged improper conduct in China’s ...

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