Geopolitics / Asia

Feb 05, 2021 at 11:31 | Editorial Dept

Myanmar is a huge investment for China. We’re talking about billions of dollars in infrastructure, including oil and gas pipelines, mines, and a deepwater port--not to mention a…

Feb 04, 2021 at 10:08 | Viktor Katona

Myanmar’s military coup has become Asia’s most significant political development in 2021 so far. In many ways, the coup brought back memories of times long gone – Aung San Suu…

Aug 10, 2020 at 10:01 | Charles Kennedy

Taiwan has detained a Chinese tanker for allegedly illegal entry into its territorial waters, Taiwanese media report, adding that the six-member crew has been arrested. Taiwan has stepped up…

Aug 05, 2020 at 17:48 | Haley Zaremba

Barrels of ink have been spilled covering the geopolitical conflicts in the South China Sea over the past few years, with plenty of…

Jul 31, 2020 at 18:01 | Viktor Katona

Whilst most of European media have narrowed down the deterioration in EU-Turkey relations to the issues of the “refurbished” Hagia Sophia and the protracted Libyan proxy war, their…

Jul 30, 2020 at 13:53 | Defense and Foreign Affairs

The steady rise in U.S. strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over trade and the South China Sea already has so many dimensions…

Jul 29, 2020 at 14:31 | Tsvetana Paraskova

The widening rift between the world’s two largest economies – the United States and China – has had analysts and market observers using the phrase ‘Cold War’ to…

Jul 27, 2020 at 12:58 | Vanand Meliksetian

Few global projects receive the same amount of praise and criticism as China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) does. Regardless of one’s opinion, the BRI is President Xi’s…

Jul 09, 2020 at 17:13 | Tsvetana Paraskova

Threats to oil shipping routes are nothing new to the oil market. It has endured Iran seizing tankers in the Strait of Hormuz,…

Jul 06, 2020 at 12:59 | Gregory R. Copley

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) seemed to be considering, by July 2020, whether to risk early military conflict as a means of moving its declining strategic fortunes…

Apr 10, 2020 at 15:13 | Simon Watkins

This week is scheduled to see the lockdown of Wuhan - the Chinese city in which the global coronavirus pandemic began – end, following a recent visit to…

Dec 31, 2019 at 12:52 | Simon Watkins

Given the array of sweetener deals in the oil and gas sector promised to Russia by Iran in the past year or so – suspended until public outcry over these…

Jun 21, 2019 at 17:01 | RFE/RL staff

Iran warned on June 17 that it would further reduce its compliance with the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement it made with world powers -- which has significantly limited Iran's sensitive…

Jun 21, 2019 at 09:15 | Tsvetana Paraskova

In response to Iran shooting down a U.S. drone on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump approved a military strike against Iranian targets, but called off the operation late on Thursday,…

Jun 20, 2019 at 16:50 | Simon Watkins

With sanctions re-imposed on Iran’s oil exports last year and recently applied in part to its petrochemicals exports as well, the U.S. is now looking to roll out the next…

May 09, 2019 at 13:44 | Tim Daiss

China continues to set records in numerous sectors, but there are some records better left alone, including drawing near to becoming the all-time global crude oil imports leader. The country

Mar 20, 2019 at 13:17 | Haley Zaremba

The United States military launched nuclear-capable B-52H Stratofortress bombers over the heavily disputed South China Sea last week, where they “conducted routine training”. In these contested waters, the Chinese government…

Mar 01, 2019 at 14:42 | Tim Daiss

Not that the Philippines’ current President Rodrigo Duterte necessarily wanted to hear it give his recent Beijing pivot - but U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered it anyway,

Feb 21, 2019 at 14:45 | Tim Daiss

Amid the geopolitical quagmire among Iran, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. over a number of issues ranging from Tehran's nuclear ambitions, its ballistic missile program and its regional hegemony overtures…

Feb 18, 2019 at 13:58 | Tim Daiss

Amid increasing tensions between longtime regional antagonists India and Pakistan, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) pledged $20 billion to Pakistan on his trip to Islamabad on…