Politics

27 April 2025
Central Asia is among the regions that China is courting in response to the Trump tariffs. (Screenshot from the website of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, is due to meet with Kenyan counterpart William Ruto, left, and Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev a week after he toured Southeast Asia, tightening Beijing's ties with developing countries. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters)
International relations

China woos trade war 'circle of friends' as Kenya, Azerbaijan leaders visit

Xi Jinping's outreach comes as U.S. wields tariffs and reins in aid

22 April 2025
Leaders of the five Central Asian countries meet with European Union leaders in Uzbekistan on April 4. (Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office via AP)
International relations

Central Asia border deals open door for Japan to strengthen ties

Historic agreements settle instability in resource-rich region

14 April 2025
From left: Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, European Council President Antonio Costa, Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedow and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov in Samarkand, April 4. (Uzbekistan's Presidential Press Office via AP)
International relations

EU leaders hold their first summit with Central Asian states

Von der Leyen announces $13.2bn investment package to increase cooperation

4 April 2025
People walk outside the United Nations headquarters in New York on March 18, 2025. 
Opinion

The U.N. must not be abandoned

The international community must support and strengthen multilateral institutions

4 April 2025
The first EU-Central Asia Summit is taking place in Samarkand. (Nikkei montage)
International relations

EU hopes to sway Central Asia in first interregional summit

Russia, China loom over Samarkand talks on security, trade, energy

3 April 2025
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev meet in Khujand, Tajikistan, on March 31 with an eye on expanding regional trade. (Photos by Reuters)
International relations

Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to hold 1st trilateral summit

A border agreement involving the fertile Fergana Valley to be formalized

31 March 2025
Ibuki 2 collects greenhouse gas data across several Asian countries, including Mongolia and Kazakhstan. (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)
Climate Change

Japan uses satellites to expand greenhouse gas tracking in Asia

Country- and business-specific data seen spurring use of Japanese climate tech

14 March 2025
Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov, right, shakes hands with his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rahmon, during a meeting in Bishkek on March 13.
International relations

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan sign deal to end border dispute

Presidents also agree to reopen road, rail and air transport links

13 March 2025
Kazakhstan is a significant producer of oil as well as key mineral resources such as uranium.
International relations

Japan's Ishiba aims for resource partnerships with Central Asia outreach

PM's adviser embarks on regional tour to promote energy and mineral development

30 January 2025
Attacks in Pakistan by militants including members of the Tehreek Taliban Pakistan -- the Pakistani Taliban -- claimed the lives of nearly 600 civilians and almost 750 security personnel in 2024, making it the deadliest year in a decade for the country. (Nikkei montage/Source photo by Getty Images)
Policy Asia

Pakistani-Afghan conflict fears grow as border clashes multiply

Hopes for resolution fade as Islamabad claims Taliban harboring Pakistani militants

17 January 2025
Tanks at an oil field operated by Caspiy Neft, one of Kazakhstan's largest oil companies. Oil revenue is an important source of funds for the national government.
Economy

Kazakhstan's budget concerns deepen as oil prices hinge on Trump policy

Poor tax discipline leaves government struggling to balance books

22 December 2024
A customs gate on China-Kazakhstan border, about 3,500 kilometers from Beijing.  (Photo by Yuri Momoi)
Belt and Road

'Modern Silk Road' brings booming trade to China-Kazakhstan border

Cross-regional exchanges and live commerce flourish thanks to major railway project

8 December 2024
President Xi Jinping elevated the China-Europe express freight train network into a national project. (Source photos by Yuri Momoi, Sputnik via Reuters)
Comment

China advances economic security with plan to revive modern Silk Road

China-Europe rail link provides alternative supply chain to Indo-Pacific bloc

26 November 2024
A view shows railway packages for containers with uranium hexafluoride salt, raw material for nuclear reactors at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in the northeastern industrial city of Oskemen, Kazakhstan. 
Opinion

Kazakhstan must shake off testing-site past and vote 'yes' to nuclear energy

Oct. 6 referendum is chance for nation to stabilize regional energy supplies

3 October 2024
A wind farm operates in Kazakhstan. Clean energy is a major part of Japan's planned business deals in Central Asia.
International relations

Japan to offer $2bn in trade support for Central Asia projects

Green and digital technology among areas of 200-plus deals due out at summit

6 August 2024
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will meet in August with leaders from five Central Asian countries in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
International relations

Japan builds ties in Russia's backyard with Central Asia summit

Tokyo to offer support for decarbonization and logistics in resource-rich region

1 August 2024
A train runs near the Chinese border in Kazakhstan. Much of the railway in Central Asia's Middle Corridor has aging infrastructure.
Transportation

Central Asian railway to offer new link between China, Europe

New rail network would bypass problematic routes through Russia and Red Sea

10 July 2024
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, second left, hosts the leaders of China, Russia, Tajikistan and Belarus at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana on July 4.
Opinion

Kazakhstan leverages middle power status with West, China, Russia

Europe, U.S. need to enhance engagement with Astana

8 July 2024
Uyghur women protest in front of policemen in Urumqi on July 7, 2009. The unrest, which started two days earlier, prompted a harsh crackdown and led to much stricter governance in the Xinjiang region.
Politics

15 years after Xinjiang unrest, China fends off criticism of hardline rule

Beijing cements support from like-minded states, cushioning West's condemnation

5 July 2024
Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization -- including China's Xi Jinping, Russia's Vladimir Putin and the Kazakh host Kassym-Jomart Tokayev -- pose for a group photo in Astana on July 4.
International relations

China and Russia's security bloc tightens bonds as it expands

Belarus the latest to join SCO as group aims to counterbalance the West

5 July 2024
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, on July 3. (Sputnik/Pool photo via Reuters)
International relations

Xi Jinping meets Russia's Putin, backs Kazakhstan joining BRICS

Chinese president in Astana for regional SCO summit as tensions with West simmer

3 July 2024
Electric vehicle maker BYD is opening a new factory in Thailand as Chinese EV producers face the prospect of stiff EU tariffs.
Your Week in Asia

Tokyo picks next governor, Shanghai AI conference, BYD opens Thai factory

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

30 June 2024
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, left, and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol inspect an honor guard during a welcome ceremony in Astana on June 12. Yoon is on a three-nation visit to Central Asia.
International relations

South Korea's Yoon seeks deals in Central Asian resource push

Visit to Kazakhstan and other countries aimed at mineral access, less reliance on China

13 June 2024
Registan Square in Samarkand. Uzbekistan is positioned to be a transport hub of the Eurasian continent. (Photo by Akira Takemura)
International relations

Uzbekistan's tech ambitions draw corporate Japan's interest

Tashkent looks to leverage Japanese e-learning to educate and employ youth

26 May 2024
Former Kazakh Economy Minister Kuandyk Bishimbayev during a court hearing in Astana on May 13, when he was found guilty of murdering his common-law wife and sentenced to 24 years in prison.
Crime

Murder trial of Kazakh ex-minister leads to reforms on domestic violence

Kuandyk Bishimbayev sentenced to 24 years in prison for torturing, killing his partner

14 May 2024
"Not enough time, not enough support": Uzbekistan, a landlocked country slightly bigger than California, is facing the consequences of a history of poor irrigation, with rising salinity slashing the size of usable growing areas.
Asia Insight

Uzbek farmers battle to save cotton, wheat crops from mortal enemy: salt

Growing salinization crisis bites as cotton exports to Bangladesh skid 80% in 5 years

7 May 2024
Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of five Central Asian countries who are increasingly worried that if Russia defeats Ukraine, it will start interfering in their internal affairs. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Getty Images)
Comment

The ghost of Soviet Union returns to haunt Central Asia, Caucasus

Fear of Russian political meddling grows as its troops regain footing in Ukraine

14 April 2024
A worker helps operate a gas field in Uzbekistan in June 2023. Methanol obtained from natural gas can be used to churn out raw materials for products ranging from plastics to films.
Economy

Uzbekistan chases chemical hub dream with Chinese polymer tech

Nation aims to export value-added products made from its natural gas

13 April 2024
A Russian law enforcement officer near the burning Crocus City Hall concert venue following the attack on March 22.
Terrorism

Moscow attack reveals ISIS-K's widening strategy of deadly disruption

Afghanistan IS-offshoot blamed for Russia's deadliest terror attack in two decades

26 March 2024