Tag: East Asia

WASHINGTON —  Speculation has been spreading about the future, role, and place in China’s power structure of Premier Li Qiang since the unexplained cancellation of a routine press conference he was expected to hold last month. It was arguably the biggest news about Li, a figure largely unknown to the outside world, since he took office a year ago. Analysts tell VOA that to better know Li, it is important to understand his place in China’s leadership structure – highly centralized under Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping’s tight rule…

phnom penh, cambodia/washington —  Cambodia’s first leadership change in almost four decades has given the United States an opportunity to reset its relationship with Phnom Penh, analysts and experts told VOA Khmer following a recent visit from an American diplomat. However, Cambodia’s slide away from democracy — along with claims that China is establishing an exclusive military presence at Cambodia’s main naval base — continues to pose a major impediment to warming relations, they said in recent interviews. Sebastian Strangio, the author of Hun Sen’s Cambodia, said some voices in…

Taipei, Taiwan —  China launched a fresh round of diplomatic outreach to Southeast Asia this week, as Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto Monday and foreign ministers from Laos, Vietnam and East Timor began to arrive in Beijing Tuesday. The diplomatic charm offensive comes amid territorial disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, and efforts by the U.S. and its allies to strengthen maritime cooperation in the region. In his meeting with Prabowo on Monday, Xi promised to “deepen all-round strategic cooperation…

Prek Takeo, Kandal Province, Cambodia —  Sok Srey is prepared for the Mekong River to rise in June, when its water spills into the Takeo, a small river or prek in Khmer, abutting the land she’s occupied with her family for almost a quarter of a century. She is not prepared for what might happen to her family if a proposed China-funded canal connecting the Gulf of Thailand with inland tributaries of the Mekong River like the Takeo. “I don’t have any clear information yet. I just heard that they…

Yangon, Myanmar —  More than 800 people suspected of being cross-border scammers were arrested in a joint police operation by Myanmar and China, the junta and Beijing’s embassy in Yangon said Monday. Scam compounds have flourished in Myanmar, staffed by citizens from China and other countries who are often forced to work swindling their compatriots in an industry analysts say is worth billions. Beijing — a major ally and arms supplier of Myanmar’s isolated junta — has repeatedly asked the military to crack down on such operations. Chinese law enforcement…