Russian-Chine agricultural cooperation in the Far East was among the key topics discussed at the Boao Forum for Asia held on March 22-25, 2016 in the city of Boao (China). This industry, though largely undervalued by mass media, supplies population of the planet with daily staples, while billions of dollars circulate in it.
Six months ago, in November 2015, Myanmar held a landmark parliamentary election for the first time in a quarter of a century. The iconic leader of the opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), and Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, globally renowned for her struggle for democratic changes in the country, won the election. Many assessed this event as a turning point in the history of Myanmar and expected it to impact the country’s domestic and foreign policy.
On March 4th, a short, anonymous letter was posted on the internet. In a few paragraphs, the letter raised the same criticism of Chinese President Xi Jinping that is constantly raised in the western press: accusing him of “centralizing power” and breaking away from “collective leadership.” The letter further accused Xi of antagonizing the United States and mismanaging China’s affairs. The letter condemned Xi’s anti-corruption campaign, saying it made government bureaucrats afraid to do their work.
Reinforcement of its strategic presence in Central Asia is not a new concept for Beijing. This region is very important for China as it is not only a significant market for Chinese goods, a source of oil and gas for power stations in China, but also a national security instrument, especially in terms of finding a solution to the problem of Xinjiang.
Two major events, whose significance for the life of the Chinese state cannot be overestimated, were held at the beginning of March of this year. They were regular annual sessions of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (NC CPPCC) and the National People’s Congress (NPC). In China, they often use a simple term “two sessions” to denote them.
The 2016 Inter-Korean crisis sent ripples throughout the entire region. It also promoted a new wave of discussions of whether South Korea should be armed with nuclear weapons. This theme is not new; just recall some of Chon Mon Zhong’s statements. But this time the national conservatives just cannot seem to ever stop the debate.
On March 11, 2016, Japan marked five years since the occurrence of one of the most devastating natural and technological catastrophes in world history, triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake. Its epicenter was located 150 km to the northeast off the coast of Japan’s largest island Honshu, at a depth of 24 km below the sea bed. The height of the resulting tsunami wave that hit the coastal regions of six Japanese prefectures was estimated at 5-40 m.
Despite the undeniable success of Beijing in important areas of domestic policy, such as economic and social development of the areas of ethno-religious minorities, there are often excesses of various types and scales of occurring in China that may very well be qualified as separatist manifestations.
