Myanmar and China agree to speed projects but ink no new deals
China and Myanmar inked dozens of deals on Saturday to speed up infrastructure projects as Beijing seeks to cement its hold over a neighbor increasingly isolated by the West. But no major new projects were agreed on during the two-day visit by President Xi Jinping, ...
Citizens battle to save the Yangtze, China's sickly 'mother river'
Water has been a source of death as well as a source of life for a generation in Shenqiu, a region fed by a tributary of China's heavily polluted Yangtze River and pockmarked with notorious "cancer villages." Residents often faced a bitter choice: drink dirty ...
Beijing sets sights on mighty Mekong as passage to South China Sea
Ninety-seven kilometers of rocks in Thai waters stand between Beijing and dominance over the Mekong, a mighty river that feeds millions as it threads south from the Tibetan Plateau through five countries before emptying into the South China Sea. China has long wanted to dredge ...
Decade after killer quake, Haiti says global aid system needs overhaul
The international aid system is deeply flawed and needs an overhaul, Haitian President Jovenel Moise said on Saturday, almost 10 years since the impoverished Caribbean island nation was struck by one of the deadliest earthquakes in history. Haitians were on Sunday to commemorate the thousands ...
Japan, China and South Korea step up banking cooperation with ASEAN for infrastructure projects
Government-backed development banks of Japan, China and South Korea have signed an agreement with public and private financial institutions in Southeast Asia to meet increasing demand for infrastructure projects in the fast-growing region. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the China Development Bank and the ...
Sixty years after era of independence, African nations seek right model for growth
As 1960 dawned, sub-Saharan Africa braced for historic change: that year, 17 of its countries were destined to gain independence from European colonial powers. But six decades on, the continent is mired in many problems. It is struggling to build an economic model that encourages ...
China aims to double water transfers from wet south to arid north
China aims to double the amount of water it transfers from the flood-prone south to arid northern regions, officials said Thursday, as the government prepares to launch the second phase of its controversial cross-country water diversion program. The South-North Water Diversion Project was first proposed ...
Former top Japan currency envoy Masatsugu Asakawa to lead Asian Development Bank
Former Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Masatsugu Asakawa has been selected as the new president of the Asian Development Bank, the organization said Monday. On Jan. 17, the former top currency diplomat will succeed Takehiko Nakao, who has led the ADB since April 2013. ...
Pope Francis said Sunday it was time for "predators" to stop plundering the Earth for financial gain, holding up the "scarred face of the Amazon" as a warning. The poor are "threatened by predatory models of development," the pope said at a Mass at the ...
Indonesia launched an international aid agency on Friday to strengthen its regional diplomatic relations, some of which have been strained by Jakarta's approach to the restive Papua region. Several Pacific nations have backed calls for investigations into allegations of violence by security forces in Indonesia's ...
Land-scarce Hong Kong sees solution in 'underground urbanism'
When authorities drew up a plan to make Hong Kong a hub for Asia's wine trade, they faced a big challenge: where to store the bottles in a city that was fast running out of space. So they went underground. Officials presented World War II-era ...
To decrease its dependence on India, Nepal eagerly awaits China rail plan
At the international border point of Rasuwagadhi (Rasuwa Fort), where Nepal fought two wars in the late 18th century with Tibetan forces and Chinese reinforcements, people now impatiently await the Qinghai-Tibet railway, which many believe will conquer the constraints posed by the Himalayas on ...
