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How Pandemic Controls Still Shape Trade and Migration in a China–Myanmar Border City

A deeply reported story published on a WeChat public account specializing in literary reporting examines how pandemic-era border control policies in Ruili, once China’s busiest land port with Myanmar, have outlasted COVID-19 and devastated the city’s once-thriving jade trade while restricting the movement of cross-border migrant ...

Critical Minerals Weekly Digest

This is a free preview of the upcoming Critical Minerals Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in Summer 2025. This week’s developments underscore a clear shift in the critical minerals landscape, from fragmented exploration to full-spectrum geopolitical ...

Thousands of Chinese Fraud Suspects Repatriated from Myanmar

Around 5,400 Chinese nationals have been apprehended and repatriated to China following a cross-border crackdown on telecom scamming operations in the Myanmarese region of Myawaddy. The operation was jointly conducted by Chinese, Myanmarese, and Thai forces and follows growing cross-border coordination ...

China Threatens Myanmar Militias on Rare Earths

China has reportedly threatened to stop buying rare earth minerals from areas in Myanmar held by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) an ethnic militia battling Myanmar’s ruling military junta. The threat comes as KIA and junta forces have been fighting for control of the town of Bhamo, ...

China-Linked Mines in Myanmar Blamed for Toxic Pollution Flowing Into Thailand

By Chayanit Itthipongmaetee and Sally Jensen A sprawling new mine is gouged into the lush rolling hills of northeast Myanmar, where civil war has weakened the government's already feeble writ, and pollution levels are rising downstream in Thailand. ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Plugging into African Agency

After several years of declining funding, the African end of the Belt and Road Initiative seems to be roaring back. The newest Griffith University/Green Development Finance Center data on the Belt and Road Initiative shows that engagement with Africa jumped by 395%, while a few big projects boosted engagement in Nigeria alone more than twelvefold.
These shifts indicate a window of opportunity for African electrification. 60% of Africans still ...

China Lead Mine Plan Weighs Heavily on Myanmar Tribe

Hundreds of protesting Myanmar tribespeople march up a hillside to a cavernous facility where a Chinese joint venture's giant milling machines stand ready to grind up the rocks of their ancestral homeland for lead ore. Demand for the heavy metal is ...

ASEAN Eyes Closer China Trade Ties Ahead of Summit

Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said ahead of a high-stakes ASEAN summit set to open Monday in Kuala Lumpur, Southeast Asia’s 10-nation bloc is called to deepen trade ties with China and other partners as it faces sweeping U.S. tariffs. Prime ...

Myanmar Junta Chief Meets China’s Xi for First Time

Myanmar's junta chief met China's president for the first time since seizing power, state media reported Saturday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, ...

WEEK IN REVIEW: Afreximbank Taps China Market with RMB-Denominated Bond

The Chinese authorities are reportedly stopping Chinese companies from investing in the United States. Bloomberg reports that China’s key economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, has halted registration and approval processes for firms that want to invest in the U.S. It is unclear how long ...

China’s AI-Powered Translation System Speeds Myanmar’s Earthquake Rescue Efforts

China launched an AI-powered translation platform based on its DeepSeek system after the deadly earthquake in Myanmar. The platform was critical in bridging communication gaps and supporting rapid rescue operations. Developed in just seven hours, the platform ...

Chinese Developer Under Scrutiny Over Bangkok Tower Quake Collapse

By Sally Jensen and Chayanit Itthipongmaetee A Chinese construction company is facing questions over the deadly collapse of a Bangkok skyscraper -- the only major building in the capital to fall in a catastrophic earthquake that has killed more than 2,000 ...

China’s Quake Relief a Messaging Win

The first batch of Chinese emergency aid arrived in Myanmar on Monday. By then, Chinese rescue teams were on the ground in Myanmar and Thailand, and they had rescued six people. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun framed the response as a sign of China’s regional commitment: ...
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