Executive Summary The recent military coup in Myanmar has baffled many observers as unresolved tension from the country’s long military rule have resurfaced just after a landslide victory of the NLD party led by Aung San Suu Kyi. International reactions… Read More ›

Myanmar
China the geopolitical winner of Myanmar’s coup
As the dust settles on Myanmar’s military coup, it is already clear that China will be the main foreign power beneficiary of the suspension of democracy. While US President Joe Biden’s administration quickly threatened to impose new punitive sanctions on… Read More ›
Behind China’s threat to support insurgency in India
China does not normally object when other countries trade with Taiwan as long as it is done on a private level. But when news reports began circulating about the possibility of an official Indian-Taiwan trade pact, China hit back via… Read More ›
Why Myanmar prefers China to the West
In early August 2019, Myanmar proudly celebrated their first domestically produced car. The manufacturer, which is a China-Myanmar joint venture, can produce 5,000 local brand vehicles a year. On Sep 18, 2012, when Hillary Clinton, the then US Secretary of… Read More ›
An US-China fight for … (surprise?) … Muslims’ interest in Myanmar
On Nov 20 Bloomberg reported: “China offers solution for Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar. “China Foreign Minister Wang Yi outlined a three-point solution that would allow Myanmar and Bangladesh to resolve the situation…… Wang told reporters that China was ‘willing… Read More ›
China says its anti-artillery radar, to be used near Myanmar border, can lock onto enemy cannons in eight seconds
The following is based on a translation from a report in Chinese media: War.163.com says in its report that Chinese anti-artillery radar is able to lock on to and identify an enemy cannon’s location in 8 seconds. The report says… Read More ›
China deploys forces to Myanmar border after bombing in Yunnan province
Beijing sent forces to patrol its southwestern border with Myanmar after a bomb killed four Chinese citizens in an area where violence between Burmese rebel groups and troops has spread and strained ties with China. On Sunday, Chinese Premier Li… Read More ›
Prelude to Conflict: Asia, March 16, 2015
A thorough and thoughtful article catches wind, documenting China’s threats against Great Britain over Hong Kong. Based on records declassified in 2013, the Crown wanted independence for Hong Kong long ago, but Beijing threatened invasion. The Hong Kong we know… Read More ›
China scrambles jets after Myanmar bomb kills four people in Yunnan province
China has lodged diplomatic protests and scrambled fighter jets to the border with neighbouring Myanmar after a bomb from a Burmese warplane killed four people in China’s south-western Yunnan province on Friday. Myanmar’s government forces are fighting armed rebels and… Read More ›
Prelude to Conflict: Asia, February 23 | Symphony
Some Muslims wanted attention… They got it. Japan authorised millions in aid to fight terrorism. Myanmar calls on China to help them fight against terrorist attacks, ostensibly being launched from inside China. Beijing may not like being asked to turn… Read More ›
‘Terrorist attacks’ against Myanmar being launched from China
China should cooperate with Myanmar to prevent “terrorist attacks” being launched from Chinese territory, a Myanmar official said on Thursday after 10 days of fighting between the Myanmar military and insurgents. Fighting broke out on Feb. 9 between the army… Read More ›
China’s charm offensive: $3 billion attempt to buy good relations with South East Asia
After his successful charm offensive in central and eastern Europe, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang directed the same offensive at South East Asia. According to a Reuters report, the Chinese government’s mouthpiece Xinhua said in its report yesterday that Li has… Read More ›
China to build 18 naval bases in Indian Ocean
The following is based on reports in Chinese media: Sri Lankan website Colombo Page quoted a namibian.com.na report that China planned to build 18 naval bases in areas of the Indian Ocean including Sri Lanka, where China has built Hambantota… Read More ›
China seeks to become “capital” of South East Asia, by extending high-speed rail
A favourite export from China to its neighbours these days are high-speed rail lines designed to make trade routes in the vast stretches of Asia more accessible and fortify Chinese dreams of turning its southern reaches into the capital of… Read More ›
Prelude to Conflict: Asia, May 12
China and the West want China and the West to know that they are in a prelude to war. Here are a few reasons why from recently… Philippines, US begin war games after Obama pledge The Mystery Shrouding China’s Communist… Read More ›
Maid to order in Hong Kong
Maids are in the news lately, with Hong Kong being offered unlimited choice by importing helpers from Myanmar. Hong Kong is helper haven with nearly 300,000 domestic helpers, largely from the Philippines, Indonesia, Nepal, India with newcomers added from Bangladesh and… Read More ›
Bride trafficking to China could rise
Bride trafficking to China from Southeast Asian countries which do not border on that country looks set to grow, says the UN, with the first reported cases from Cambodia in 2012. “The numbers of identified cases are still small, but… Read More ›
China’s live broadcast of executions for crimes allegedly committed abroad
One of Asia’s most notorious drug kingpins has reportedly been executed in China for the massacre of 13 Chinese sailors – with his last moments being broadcast live on national television. He was captured in Laos and extradited to China,… Read More ›
Obama eyes $108 billion annual Asia prize vying with China trade
More than a century and a half after Millard Fillmore dispatched an emissary to Asia to transform commerce across the Pacific, a U.S. president again sees an historic opportunity to strengthen America’s role in the region. Barack Obama sent his secretary of state,… Read More ›
US can’t squeeze China out of Myanmar.
That was the message that China sought to convey to President Barack Obama as he completed his eight-hour visit to Yangon (Rangoon) on November 19, 2012, during which he met President Thein Sein and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and… Read More ›
China will finance Laos rail link
Laotian officials announced Thursday that China and Laos have agreed on a railway project that would cross the Laotian highlands to the Chinese border. The Wall Street Journal reports: “Laos’s Energy and Mining Minister Soulivong Dalavong said in an interview… Read More ›
Myanmar’s Kachin refugees forced back by China
China is forcing back thousands of Kachin refugees fleeing ethnic violence in northern Myanmar, activists and aid workers say. “The latest reports are that the push-backs are still going on and the Chinese government is refusing to face the reality… Read More ›
China hopes U.S. Myanmar moves not aimed at Beijing
A senior Chinese diplomat said on Wednesday he hoped moves by the United States to re-engage with Myanmar were not aimed at Beijing, underscoring China‘s concerns about influence in its strategically located neighbour and close economic partner. Chinese state-run media… Read More ›