News Analysis Hundreds of Taiwanese citizens are being held captive in Cambodia and forced to work in telecom scam networks run by human trafficking organizations, according to Taiwan authorities. Furthermore, the rise in crime in Sihanoukville, a coastal city in Cambodia, has reportedly been linked to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Human Trafficking Taiwan’s National…

News Analysis The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is developing infrastructure and access all around the world. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) created a unique process to get countries to agree to give the PLA access to key ports and bases via several methods, including the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). For example, this process can…

Commentary The Global Infrastructure and Investment with $600 billion in funding is a good idea—but comes 10 years later and pales in comparison to the $1 trillion estimated for China’s Belt and Road Initiative. On June 26, the White House issued the “Memorandum on the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment” (GII) to fund development…

The Lao central bank has imposed a limit on selling foreign currencies as part of a group of measures designed to stabilize the kip, which has plunged to its lowest value in decades. The new rules prohibit currency exchange bureaus from selling foreign currency to legal entities and international organizations, instead permitting only licensed commercial…

The Group of Seven (G-7) nations plan to raise $600 billion over the next five years for a global infrastructure program that will serve as a “positive alternative” to models that sell “debt traps.” G-7 leaders from the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the European Union unveiled the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and…

News Analysis The outcome of the U.S.-ASEAN summit that ended on May 13 was a pledge to establish an ASEAN-U.S. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in November of this year. Experts believe Taiwan, a non-ASEAN member, would become a beneficiary in the U.S. efforts to counter China in the Pacific. From May 12 to 13, U.S. President…

Sri Lanka is in the grip of its worst economic and financial crisis since independence in 1948, plunging the country into chaos. In addition to the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war that have severely damaged the world’s second-largest tea exporter and major tourist destination, the country is also mired in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s…

Commentary The original Silk Road lasted until the 15th century. It was a vast trade network that began in the Far East and ended in Europe, winding through the countries of modern-day Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, India, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Today this area is ground zero for China’s Belt and Road Initiative…

The scramble for colonies in Africa is over, but the scramble among the great powers to own Africa’s debt is rising to a new level. At stake is whether China or the European Union will dominate the continent owning seven of the 20 fastest growing economies of the world and rapidly urbanizing regions. The European…

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, in addition to the United States, Britain, Canada, and the European Union (EU), more countries have agreed to exclude Russia from the SWIFT banking system. Experts believe the ban is expected to bring a major blow to the Russian economy and put China, as a supporter of Russia, in…