Politics

Pakistan barely has enough foreign reserves to finance imports for two months. This container is being loaded on to the first Chinese container ship at the port of Gwadar.
International relations

Pakistan economic crisis puts Chinese investments under spotlight

Loans from Beijing tied to secrecy but IMF would likely demand transparency

10 August 2018
A street vendor sells mangos in Kathmandu, Nepal. The country's first-ever economic census aims to get an accurate picture of the business landscape.
International relations

Japan to help Asia and Africa modernize economic data

Tokyo taps soft-power assistance as alternative to China's infrastructure projects

10 August 2018
Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan will have to choose whether to turn to the International Monetary Fund or to China for financial support.(Getty Image)
International relations

Pakistan's Khan faces tough choice: Help from IMF or China

Whoever provides financial support, spending cuts and tax hikes lie in wait

8 August 2018
Imran Khan, expected to become Pakistan's next prime minister, plans ambitious tax reform measures. 
Economy

Imran Khan walks tightrope to revamp Pakistan's tax collection

Reforms seen as essential to IMF assistance but face obstacles in parliament

6 August 2018
Imran Khan, who is expected to become the next prime minister, addresses the nation after the general election results were announced in Islamabad on July 26.
Economy

Belt and Road headache awaits Khan as Pakistan PM

Dwindling reserves and mounting debts to put new government in fiscal bind

31 July 2018
India worries that Imran Khan's nationalist tendencies can cause more tension on its heavily militarized border with Pakistan.
Opinion

India alarmed by Imran Khan victory in Pakistan

Delhi fears rising tension as military gains leverage

27 July 2018
Populist firebrand Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Justice Movement, has promised sweeping changes, but analysts remain sceptical. 
Politics

Pakistan's new leader faces uphill climb rebuilding economy

Former cricket star promises change, starting from corruption and poverty

27 July 2018
Imran Khan, who has claimed victory in Pakistan's election, will be under pressure to keep his military backers happy.
Opinion

The army is the real victor in Pakistan's election

Military muzzled established parties in favor of Khan

27 July 2018
Supporters of Pakistani politician Imran Khan, chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, celebrate projected unofficial results announced by television channels indicating their candidates' success in the parliamentary elections in Islamabad on July 25. 
Politics

Opposition's Imran Khan ahead in Pakistan election

Opponents reject early projection results in vote marred by violence

26 July 2018
A woman casts her vote at a polling station for the parliamentary elections in Islamabad on July 25. 
Politics

Five things to know about Pakistan's general election

Prospect of growing military influence casts shadow over fragile democracy

25 July 2018
A supporter of Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, waves a flag during a campaign rally on July 22 in Karachi, Pakistan.
Politics

Pakistan goes to polls as debt reckoning looms

Islamabad likely to need bailout from IMF or Beijing

24 July 2018
A Chinese national flag is affixed to a buffer stop on a railway at a freight yard in the Kazakh border town of Khorgos.
Belt and Road

China's Belt and Road stirs up local anxieties

Loans and investments ignore profits and blur economics and security

24 July 2018
Street poles are decorated with the flags and banners of political parties in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on July 23 ahead of a general election.
Opinion

Pakistan entering another phase of instability?

Elections will likely deliver either a weak coalition or unpopular majority

24 July 2018
The flags of China and Sri Lanka flutter in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in happier times. 
International relations

China unresponsive over FTA talks with Sri Lanka

Beijing possibly hoping for a return to power of the Rajapaksa clan

19 July 2018
Supporters of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif protest his 10-year prison sentence. The military is thought to have had a hand in his ouster by the Supreme Court.
14 July 2018
A boy holds a Pakistani flag in Islamabad.
International relations

China lends $1bn to Pakistan to boost foreign reserves

Islamabad's dependence on Beijing loans grows further

1 July 2018
Assam residents wait to check whether they made the first draft of the National Register of Citizens in the state's Kamrup district in January. (AFP/Jiji)
Politics

India migrants face judgment day with border state's census

Assam on edge as Modi's 2014 vow to eject 'Bangladeshi infiltrators' echoes

28 June 2018
Soybeans being loaded at a port in China's Jiangsu Province. China, the world's largest consumer of soybeans, relies on U.S. imports for up to 30% of its needs.
Trade war

Soybean showdown: China removes tariffs in Asia

Beijing touts alternatives to US, but effect may be limited

27 June 2018
AIIB President Jin Liqun says the bank looks to finance quality projects that avoid pushing countries into the "debt trap" faced by some borrowers related to Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative. (Photo by Yuji Kuronuma)
Economy

No 'debt trap' with AIIB, president vows

India's Modi wants greater involvement with China-led development bank

27 June 2018
Laborers constructing a flyover in New Delhi, India in February. 
Economy

China-led AIIB to spend $3.5bn with focus on India

Bank says it is 'apolitical' and wants to connect Asia and Africa

25 June 2018
Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, greets Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 8.
International relations

China-led Shanghai grouping offers challenge to G-7

From North Korea to Iran, the SCO's unity contrasts with Western rancor

9 June 2018
(© Nikkei montage/Source photos by Getty Images)
Asia Insight

China emerges as wild card in elections across Asia

Incumbents draw on Beijing's support as opponents tap resentment of its influence

5 June 2018
Women in Bangladesh wear T-shirts and caps with messages about safe migration on International Migration Day. (Courtesy of UN Women)
17 May 2018
A jewelry shop in Peshawar: Pakistan has struggled to get the wealthy to pay income tax.
17 May 2018
Executives from the Dhaka, Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges attend Monday's signing ceremony in Bangladesh. Chinese investors may secure funding more easily for special economic zones that Beijing is building in Bangladesh. (Photo by Yuji Kuronuma)
17 May 2018