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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 ...

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. ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

BRICS Announces Numerous New Initiatives

The BRICS group wrapped up its two-day leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. The summit’s final communique is a 16,000-word doorstop that covers numerous issues from economics to education.
The communique avoids any direct mention of the United States, and references to “unilateralism” and other coded criticism are also relatively scarce. Rather, the communique keeps the focus on the BRICS’ vision of the strengthening and reform of the global multilateral system ...

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 ...

China Says Premier Li Qiang to Visit Laos, Vietnam This Week

Chinese Premier Li Qiang will visit Laos for meetings with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) officials as well as Vietnam this week, Beijing's foreign ministry said Tuesday. Li will attend the ASEAN summit meetings and "pay an official visit to ...

Blinken, in Laos, set for talks with Chinese foreign minister

By Léon Bruneau U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived early Saturday in Laos, where he will attend a regional meeting and hold talks with his Chinese counterpart. This is part of a multi-nation Asia visit aimed at reinforcing ties with ...
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