Zimbabwe had an unexpected, dramatic effect on Thai politics in January. When Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra announced her new cabinet, the opposition Democrat Party suddenly remembered that one,...

Officials are building up expectations for the fifth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC V), which Beijing will host in the last quarter of this year. The showpiece summit,...

Beijing’s cooperation with the International Monetary Fund often goes unnoticed. China has been quietly working with the IMF to pressure African governments to remove fuel subsidies, after its...

The Indian government starts 2012 aiming to almost double bilateral trade with Africa from US$46 billion to $70 bn. by 2015. Such plans disguise the fact that, so...

Japan’s cycle of political instability and the long recovery from the tsunami and Fukushima nuclear crisis signal another year of inward focus for the governing elite. Prime Minister...

President Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang (KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party) won a second term on 14 January and now has another four years to carry forward his China-friendly...

President Ma Ying-jeou’s election victory on 14 January gave comfort to those who feared that an opposition win might rupture the delicate détente between China and Taiwan –...

The Tata Group, one of India’s largest conglomerates, has named Cyrus Mistry as the surprise replacement for Chairman Ratan N. Tata, who steps down in December 2012 after...

A new ambassador arrived in Algiers this October and began by giving his honest opinions on the country’s bureaucratic, political and economic challenges. Much perturbed by the fact...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) looks set to bend its rules this month to accommodate Ghana’s rush to raise a US$700 million loan from China to build a...