The APEC Summit ended in a deadlock following conflict between the US and China. I have a new article in the Khaleej Times about the fall-out, emphasizing the need for Asian countries to determine their own destiny without getting caught up in great power competition. From the piece:

... it is real dollars and cents that do the talking. And Asian countries desperately need massive investments to build infrastructure as traditionally rural populations make the transition to an urban, consumerist lifestyle. When faced with a choice between America's words about independence and China's dollars, most countries will behave in the manner of Pakistan and Sri Lanka: gladly accepting China's money and ignoring homilies from the West.

Moreover, Asian countries are not oblivious to China's substantially greater engagement in the region. In contrast, President Donald Trump signalled his intentions by skipping the Asian summits and sending his vice-president instead.

For all the talk about a pivot to Asia since the Obama presidency, the reality is that the United States' approach to the continent is characterised mostly by indifference. There has been no shortage of words - from the new characterisation of the Indo-Pacific, to the desire to create a Quad (Australia, India, Japan, and the US) to balance China's rise - but concrete investments have been underwhelming.

For instance, the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, announced a renewed commitment to the Indo-Pacific in July this year with a puny $113 million investment to develop digital economy, infrastructure, and energy.

In contrast, China promised $4 billion to tiny PNG alone; its investments in other Asian countries are truly staggering: the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is worth over $62 billion; the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor is budgeted at over $2 billion; in Bangladesh, China has promised about $31 billion in spending on a variety of projects; trade between Vietnam and China exceeds $100 billion per year in 2018; and BRI investments in Malaysia are about $34 billion.

EPC signed to develop 330MW Power Project in Thar

Tehlka TV Report

Islamabad : ThalNova Power Thar Private Ltd (TNPTL) has signed the Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) contract with China Machinery & Engineering Corporation (CMEC) in Beijing recently to develop the 330 MW Power project in Thar, Sindh.

ThalNova is a CPEC power project based on Thar lignite coal to be located at the power park site within Block II, Thar Coalfields,…

Pak, China sign MoU for coal mining

LAHORE: The Punjab government and China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for mechanical mining of coal in the Salt Range of Pakistan.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that there were approximately 600 million ton coal reserves existed in Punjab which could be used to overcome energy crisis. “The Pak-China…

Empresa chinesa CMEC constrói central eléctrica em Angola

A empresa chinesa China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) vai construir uma central de ciclo combinado no Soyo, província do Zaire, de acordo com os termos de um despacho presidencial, citado pela imprensa angolana.

Segundo o despacho, a construção da central terá um custo de 985,2 milhões de dólares e o respectivo contracto será assinado entre o ministério angolano da Energia e Águas e a…