Southeast Asia Archive

A number of rail link items have caught my attention recently, and I thought it worthwhile to pass them along. The first is this massive China-Turkey joint development of a Turkish high-speed rail project, with China financing the project to the tune of an estimated $30 billion. The second is this Burma project linking its deep-water port of Kyaukphyu to Kunming, the capital of China’s southwestern province of Yunnan. Then there’s this one, in Africa, linking South Sudan to Uganda. And finally, there’s this rundown of the current rail projects in Southeast Asia. We often talk about ties between two […]

When the Nobel committee selected Liu Xiaobo as the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, the distinction brought unwanted attention to China. For obvious reasons, Beijing did not want the world honoring a man who has dedicated decades to challenging the country’s political system. But Beijing, in fact, seems uncomfortable with any kind of attention. Earlier this year, when the Chinese economy overtook Japan’s to become the second-largest in the world, Chinese officials seemed determined to downplay what is by any measure an impressive achievement, declaring that the rising Chinese powerhouse remains “a developing country.” To be sure, China […]

For almost 20 years, Indian development has been guided by the “Look East” policy, based on the premise that Asia holds the key to India’s economic and strategic future. The recent state visits by Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil to Laos and Cambodia, which yielded Indian offers of trade initiatives and cash loans, have demonstrated that, for New Delhi, an eastern orientation is still promising. Shifting its gaze northward, however, tends to leave India blinking uncomfortably in China’s reflected light. Admired but also feared, emulated but also repudiated, China can spoil the appeal of Asia’s opportunities for India. Economic ties […]