On a recent official visit to China, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad criticized his host country’s use of major infrastructure projects – and difficult-to-repay loans – to assert its influence over smaller countries.

Strategists in the West fear that China’s Belt and Road initiative (BRI) is a vast, well-laid and finely orchestrated plan to extend Chinese hegemony over much of the developing world. They should be afraid of something else: It’s nothing of the sort.What many outsiders have missed is that the BRI is a vision, not a plan.

After three days of meetings and forums, this year’s 12th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as Summer Davos in Asia came to an end yesterday. Held in the northern Chinese city Tianjin, this year’s Summer Davos carried the theme of “Shaping Innovative Societies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution” which attracted 2,000 business leaders, policymakers and experts from over 80 countries.

Philippine rescuers searched desperately for dozens feared buried under a landslide unleashed by Typhoon Mangkhut, which also left a trail of destruction in Hong Kong and saw millions evacuated in southern China.The confirmed death toll across the northern Philippines, where the main island of Luzon was mauled by fierce winds and rain, reached 65 on Monday and was expected to rise further given the number of missing.

China is the last bulwark against a deep crisis in emerging economies going fully global, analysts say, although a prolonged trade war could sap Beijing's defences.Emerging countries - loosely defined as having fast growing but volatile economies - have seen their currencies battered in recent weeks, plunging their finances into turmoil, and raising fears of global contagion.But China, the world's second-biggest economy and itself categorized as an emerging market, doesn't shar

The ongoing trade war between the United States (US) and China is set to dominate discussions at the World Economic Forum on ASEAN currently being held in Hanoi. Some of Asia’s top business heavyweights and leaders are expected to attend the forum from 11 to 13 September.Over the past few months, US President Donald Trump has not lifted his foot off the gas as he persists with a slew of tariffs on China, the country which the US imports the most goods from.

Kim Jong-un presided over a tempered military parade Sunday, in the latest sign that he wants to revive stalled nuclear talks with the United States (US) as he pushes for North Korea to re-join the international community.Kim marked the 70th anniversary of his grandfather’s regime without showing off provocative hardware such as long-range ballistic missiles that would likely have irked President Donald Trump, who said in June that North Korea is “no longer a nuclear threat.”In the past, Nort

Bans on pork products from China may be widened as part of emergency measures to stem the global spread of African swine fever.The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations agency spearheading an international effort to control the deadly pig virus, plans to release recommendations for governments after a crisis meeting in Bangkok this week.

The Southeast Asian region is only just managing to maintain its population but there are indications that the fertility rates of ASEAN member nations are continuing to fall. In 2016, half of ASEAN member countries recorded total fertility rates (TFR) that were indicative of potentially shrinking populations, while two other countries recorded more than 15 percent TFR reduction over the last decade.

President Xi Jinping told African leaders Monday that China's investments on the continent have "no political strings attached", pledging US$60 billion in new development financing, even as Beijing is increasingly criticised over its debt-heavy projects abroad.Xi offered the funding at the start of a two-day China-Africa summit that focused on his cherished Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).