Politics

Construction site at Chinese side of the China-Kazakhstan Khorgos International Border Cooperation Center in Khorgos.
17 May 2018
A new railway connecting Iran's Astara with Azerbaijan, which opened in late March, is a key link along the International North-South Transport Corridor. (© Nikkei montage)
26 April 2018
A new railway connecting Iran's Astara with Azerbaijan, which opened in late March, is a key link along the International North-South Transport Corridor. (© Nikkei montage)
Asia Insight

India and China jostle for influence in Iran and Central Asia

New Delhi's 7,000km transport corridor cuts across Beijing's Belt and Road

24 April 2018
A Chinese construction worker at the site of a Chinese-backed hotel complex in Colombo in October 2015
The Big Story

Is China's Belt and Road working? A progress report from eight countries

Beijing's infrastructure push clouded by project delays and mounting debt

28 March 2018
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev, at the Presidential Palace in Astana in June 2017
International relations

Linking China to the EU's 'gateway' for exporters

Kazakhstan seeks to become part of China's supply chain, while Poland seeks infrastructure funding

28 March 2018
Thailand hopes more trade with the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union will contribute to the growth of its Eastern Economic corridor. (Getty Images)
26 February 2018
An Indonesian Muslim holds up a poster during a rally calling for the arrest of Jakarta's then-incumbent governor Basuki Purnama.
Politics

Democracy rankings put Asia in poor standing

Six of seven regions around the world slipped in freedoms for 2017

8 February 2018
An Indonesian Muslim holds up a poster during a rally calling for the arrest of Jakarta's then-incumbent governor Basuki Purnama.
Politics

Democratic conditions 'fall sharply' in Asia

Region regresses as minorities suffer in Indonesia and Myanmar, says think tank

1 February 2018
A boy sells umbrellas printed with Pakistan's flag at a market in Karachi last July. Safety in the city has improved dramatically.
Economy

Pakistan keeps terrorists on the run and the economy on a roll

Sweeping security push helps improve growth and business sentiment

1 February 2018
Kairat Umarov serves as Kazakhstan's ambassador to the United Nations.
International relations

Former nuclear power Kazakhstan shares lessons for North Korea

UN ambassador highlights benefits of denuclearization, harm suffered by testing

30 January 2018
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who has expressed his country's willingness to host a meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
International relations

Widodo cements Muslim credentials during South Asia tour

Indonesian president turns away from insular policy and strives for world leadership

29 January 2018
A boy sells umbrellas printed with Pakistan's flag at a market in Karachi last July. Safety in the city has improved dramatically.
Economy

Pakistan keeps terrorists on the run and economy on a roll

Businesses' focus shifts from bombs and kidnappings to taxes and policy

19 January 2018
Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev speaks at the Security Council meeting.
International relations

Kazakhstan calls on North Korea to follow lead on nuclear weapons

Nazarbayev touts experience of renouncing arms at Security Council meeting

19 January 2018
FNSS, a joint venture between Turkey's Nurol Holding and the U.K.'s BAE Systems, unveiled a medium-weight tank co-developed with Indonesia’s PT Pindad during the Istanbul Defense Industry Fair in Istanbul in May 2017. (Photo by Sinan Tavsan)
International relations

Turkey steps up arms sales to South and Southeast Asia

Ankara seeks to diversify as tensions rise in traditional Middle East markets

12 January 2018
Presidents of Eurasian Economic Union member countries attend a news conference after a meeting in Moscow
Politics

Smuggled Chinese goods fuel tensions in Russia-led Asian bloc

International observers to monitor Kazakh-Kyrgyz border to address spat

15 December 2017
A worker shovels wheat in Kazakhstan's Akmola region. The country aims to develop its agriculture with China.
Asia Insight

China's Belt and Road sparks a battle of the breadbaskets

New infrastructure helps ex-Soviet grain exporters reach Asian markets

30 November 2017
The planned missile is seen being equipped on the cutting-edge F-35 stealth fighter used by Japan's Air Self-Defense Force. (Courtesy of ASDF)
International relations

Japan and UK to collaborate on missile development

Tokyo's first non-US partnership would develop an air-to-air weapon

24 November 2017
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev speaks in Russia April 5, 2017.
Politics

Uzbek push for stronger ties may change face of Central Asia

Big diplomatic shift after past isolationism welcomed by region, world

23 November 2017
Teachers on strike at a school in Ulaanbaatar: The sign reads "Salary equal to our work." (Photo by Ochir Khaidui)
Economy

Mongolian teachers strike puts government in a bind

Constrained by IMF bailout, cabinet resists call for nearly 150% pay hike

14 November 2017
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev,far right, joins Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, next in front row, at the opening ceremony for the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway in Baku on Oct. 30.
Economy

'Iron silk road' threatens to sidetrack Russia

Trilateral rail project offers southern route for China's Belt and Road initiative

31 October 2017
People cast their ballots in the presidential election in Kyrgyzstan Oct. 15. This was the first instance of a non-violent, democratic transfer of power in the country.
International relations

Bloodless Kyrgyz presidential election has China and Russia smiling

First elections untainted by violence or foreign interference

21 October 2017
Mongolia's legislature confirmed Khurelsukh Ukhnaa as the new prime minister.
Politics

Mongolia ushers in new prime minister

Attention turns to possible shift in North Korea stance

5 October 2017
A cargo ship is seen docked at a port in Lianyungang on January 13, 2016. The city in China's Jiangsu Province is to be the starting point of a new rail service that will carry goods to Europe.
Politics

Nippon Express climbs aboard China's Belt and Road Initiative

New service to carry goods from port along East China Sea to Europe

30 September 2017
The new route to Europe will extend to Piraeus, Greece, from Khorgos, pictured here, on the Chinese border with Kazakhstan.
Politics

Tristan Kenderdine: The Caspian Sea is the best bet for China's Belt and Road

Route would help Beijing balance its land and maritime strategies

28 September 2017
Students learn electric circuit design at a Kosen vocational school affiliated with the Mongolian University of Science and Technology.
International relations

Thailand and Mongolia embracing Japanese 'Kosen' schools

One hopes to avoid middle-income trap; other seeks modernization

27 September 2017