In terms of geopolitical optics, this week was nothing short of a banquet. It served up at least two sets of images that seem to crystallize our historical moment and that will live on in the Wikipedia of history as shorthand for where the world was in 2025.
One is the waves of uncannily synchronized soldiers and a bewildering array of high-tech weaponry gliding down Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue. The ...
Country: Laos
Related Posts
Beijing Drives New Rail Bridge Linking Thailand – Laos with China
China, Thailand, and Laos have agreed to accelerate the construction of a second Nong Khai–Vientiane rail bridge. This move underscores Beijing’s central role in reshaping Southeast Asia’s transport and trade routes. It is designed to carry trains directly from Thailand ...
China Backs Malaysia’s BRICS Bid, Laos Reiterates Interest
China has pledged full support for Malaysia’s full membership into BRICS, while Laos has reaffirmed its interest in joining. The moves underline Southeast Asia’s growing engagement with the bloc, which has expanded its membership in recent years. ...
China-Laos Railway Fuels Trade and Record Travel Boom in Early 2025 Amid Scrutiny
Since its launch on December 3, 2021, the China-Laos Railway has handled over 48.6 million passenger trips and 54 million tons of goods as of February 2025. The number is seen as strengthening regional trade and economic integration under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), amid ...
China’s Sprawling Rail Projects Around Asia
Vietnam approved plans on Wednesday for a multi-billion-dollar railway with China, boosting links between the two communist countries. Around the region, China has been financing railways under its Belt and Road Initiative, which funds infrastructure projects globally, but has come under ...
Chinese Victims Among 4 Killed in Laos Explosion
An explosion at a shop in northern Laos killed four people, including Chinese nationals, Beijing's consulate general in the country reported. The "blast" happened Friday at a Chinese store in Oudomxay province, the Chinese consulate in Luang Prabang said in a ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Thailand Approves 2nd Phase of High-Speed Rail, Connecting Bangkok to China by 2030
Thailand’s long-anticipated high-speed rail project to China is moving forward. On Tuesday, the Thai cabinet formally approved the second phase of the Thai-Chinese high-speed rail line, a 357-kilometer stretch from Nakhon Ratchasima to Nong Khai, with an investment of approximately $10 billion, equivalent to 340 billion ...
Thailand, China Stage Myanmar Talks
Chinese officials will attend meetings in Bangkok on Thursday and Friday aimed at crafting regional solutions to the crisis in Myanmar. The two meetings are seen as a bold attempt from Thailand to resolve the crisis, which is threatening the ruling military junta’s grip on the country. ...
Debt-Saddled Laos Struggles to Tame Rampant Inflation
By Thanaporn Promyamyai and Damon Wake Suffocating under a mountain of debt to China, Laos is struggling to tame rampant inflation, with food prices rising so sharply that a growing number of households are resorting to foraging.
Blinken at ASEAN Meet Condemns China’s ‘Increasingly Dangerous’ Sea Moves
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Beijing's "increasingly dangerous" actions in the South China Sea and voiced support for freedom of navigation as he met leaders of the ASEAN bloc on Friday. "We remain concerned about China's increasingly dangerous and ...
Blinken Arrives at Asia Summit With Firm Line on Myanmar, China
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Laos on Thursday for the East Asia Summit, where he will push a firm line on Myanmar's junta and Beijing's assertive actions in the South China Sea. In a shift of focus after ...
Philippines Challenges China Over South China Sea at ASEAN Meet
By Martin Abbugao and Damon Wake Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos challenged Chinese Premier Li Qiang over recent clashes in the South China Sea at regional summit talks on Thursday, as fears grow that conflict could erupt in the disputed waterway.
Myanmar, South China Sea Dominate ASEAN Summit
Leaders from the ten member countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathered in Laos on Wednesday for an unusually fraught ASEAN summit. Their time in Vientiane is likely to be dominated by twin crises: the civil war in Myanmar and rising tensions ...