How Xi and Putin see a post-Ukraine war world

Just a few days after being branded a war criminal in an international arrest warrant, Russian President Vladimir Putin was talking peace with his most important ally, Chinese President Xi Jinping. The setting for the get-together was the late-15th-century Faceted Chamber, the ornate throne room of Muscovite grand princes and czars. The main topics of […]Continue Reading

Eye on China, Hun Sen tightens his military control

As Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s plan to hand power to his eldest son gathers pace, the long-ruling premier is consolidating his control over a fractious defense ministry that some observers believe was running parallel but separate diplomatic channels to China.    Tea Banh, the defense minister since the 1980s, is believed to have been the […]Continue Reading

Time for China to spend more and save less

The atmospherics surrounding the recent National People’s Congress all came down to one question: when exactly will China become the world’s biggest economy? Communist Party leader Xi Jinping didn’t offer a specific answer. But it’s clear that the new reform team Xi has assembled is accelerating the timeline by prioritizing consumption over investment. There’s not a […]Continue Reading