Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a team of coronavirus experts as COVID-19 cases and death toll from the disease continue to surge in Bangladesh
50 Years Of Bangladesh-China Ties: Trade, Infrastructure Investment Underpin The Relationship
China has become Bangladesh’s top development partner, providing the capital and engineering expertise. It provided funding and construction for the $4.63 billion Padma Bridge Rail Link. This project connects the underdeveloped south to the capital. China also built the $2.48 billion Payra Thermal Power Plant, a critical piece of energy infrastructure. It constructed the Bangabandhu Tunnel under the Karnaphuli River in Chittagong, the first of its kind in South Asia.
Indo-Pacific: Peace, Power, And India’s strategic balance
The Indo-Pacific has indeed been relatively more stable compared to many other geopolitically contested regions. The QUAD plays a role in deterrence and in norm setting, but its impact is partial. India, through its constellation of policies—Act East, SAGAR, IPOI, MAHASAGAR, etc.—contributes significantly to that peace
Myanmar: Bitter Contest For Influence In Indo-Pacific’s Most Volatile Frontier
The convergence of instability in Myanmar, fragility in Bangladesh, and external meddling by China and Pakistan threatens to form a volatile arc along India’s eastern flank. The challenge for New Delhi is not to pick sides in Myanmar’s internal war but to manage outcomes—to stay present, relevant, and nimble while others overreach. Because when the last ballot is counted, Myanmar will likely look the same: weary, divided, and ruled by men who mistake fear for order. The generals will call it normalcy; the world will call it tragedy.
China’s Rapid Rise Is Slowing Down: Xi’s Ability To Project Influence May Be Diminishing
As China continues to invest beyond what its economy can absorb, unproductive spending—much of it debt-financed—has expanded far faster than GDP. A decade ago, total debt was about twice the size of the economy; now it is roughly triple. The debt-to-GDP ratio has reached around 300 percent, alarmingly high for a developing economy.
More on Indo Pacific - China Watch
Chinese power scams under CPEC cause loss of $630mn to Pak
In an effort to explore the causes for the steep cost of electricity in Pakistan, the Imran Khan government has unearthed a scam of over $630 million involving power projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
Pompeo hailed for asking China to release Tibetan holy monk
Tibet's self-declared government-in-exile President Lobsang Sangay on Tuesday thanked US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for making a strong call to China for the release of the second-highest holy monk, the Panchen Lama
Trump threatens to pull top funder US out of WHO over China
Accusing the World Health Organisation of “alarming lack of independence from” China, US President Donald Trump has threatened to pull out of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and end its financing if it did not institute reforms within a month and end its subservience
274 students brought back from China
As many as 274 Pakistani students stranded in the Chinese city of Wuhan arrived at Islamabad International Airport (IIA) on a special flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Monday
PLA muscle-flexing part of exercise to shape the environment in China’s favour
A major aim of China’s aggressive actions is to derail demands at the United Nations for independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. This has led to muscle-flexing all over, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
'Wuhan Diary' releases in India in ebook format
The much-talked-about 'Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City' by well-known Chinese literary writer Fang Fang, has released in India in the ebook format
China rejects India’s objection to dam in Gilgit-Baltistan
China on Friday rejected India’s objection to the construction of Diamer-Bhasha dam in the Gilgit-Baltistan region - whose sovereignty is contested by India - saying that the economic cooperation between China and Pakistan was aimed at promoting development and improving the well-being of the local population
Time to strengthen Quad to counter China’s influence
There is a geopolitical dimension to the COVID-19 tsunami that continues to leave in its wake thousands of deaths across the world
China offers to restart development work in Sri Lanka
Chinese President Xi Jinping is suggesting that China and Sri Lanka gradually resume practical cooperation in various fields, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua has reported
Pakistan's WAPDA signs Rs442b deal with Power China-FWO
An agreement worth Rs442 billion with a joint venture of Power China and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) was signed on Wednesday for the construction of a diversion system, main dam, access bridge and 21-megawatt Tangir hydroelectric power project
Chinese People’s Liberation Army provides protective material to Sri Lankan army fighting COVID-19 pandemic
At the request of Sri Lanka, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army has sent an Air Force aircraft carrying a consignment of required personal protective clothing and other supplies for COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control to the Sri Lanka Army
China reiterates support for Afghanistan peace, development
The Chinese ambassador to Kabul, Mr. Wang Yu, has assured his country’s support to a stable and developed Afghanistan
Chinese chopper spotted near LAC, India rushes fighters to border
The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Tuesday scrambled fighter jets along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China in Ladakh, after China flew military choppers close to the LAC
Lessons to be learned from China's COVID-19 handling
The bottom line is this: China has been less than truthful, manipulated messages, behaved autocratically, turned the pandemic into a geopolitical football game of blame and shame, and not been forthcoming about how the novel coronavirus started nor accepted any responsibility for its consequences, writes Frank F Islam for South Asia Monitor
