News

When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hosted five Southeast Asian leaders for discussions in Tokyo last week, he also had China on his mind. Dubbed the Mekong-Japan Summit, the meeting was the tenth to bring together national leaders from Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam ...

CCCC, Belt and Road’s biggest builder, is besieged by allegations of fraud, corruption, and environmental damage. Keep reading ...

‍India has offered China connectivity through its northeastern region to Bangladesh’s Chittagong port on the Indian Ocean as part of an ambitious multilateral plan that appears to complement the Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor proposed under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). More detail ...

Southeast Asian nations are pushing back against China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), wary of Beijing’s creeping influence and unmanageable debts. Japan and India are seeking to capitalize on this setback and bolster their presence in the region, but standing up to Beijing could carry ...

Any idea of environmental protection for the wonders of the Mekong has been marginalized by China’s grand Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with its focus firmly fixed on trade, infrastructure development, and, along the Mekong, dam construction. Keep reading ...

The Myanmar government is urged to take a proactive role and form a taskforce to carve out its involvement in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). An adviser to the National League for Democracy-led government stressed the need to scrutinize debt while others voiced the ...

Lao authorities are working with their counterparts in several neighbouring countries to finalise logistical procedures for increased railway freight transport, a senior government official has said. Deputy Director General of the Railway Department, Mr Sengthavisay Malivanh, told news editors from 24 media publications of 20 ...

Laos has taken steps to pursue its plan to build a railway network that will connect the landlocked country with its neighbours, the rest of the region and the world, railway authorities told visiting news editors from Asian countries. In its latest move, the Lao government ...

At the BRI summit in May, the State Counsellor stressed that BRI-led projects should complement national priorities and take into account the welfare of local communities, and highlighted the need to ensure responsible business practice. Local analysts and commentators in Myanmar have spelt out some ...