Central Asia
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Central Asia

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Central Asia
Central Asia
News from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.
US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoyed a friendly phone call on Thursday, but a trade deal between the two countries is still some way off. Photo: AP
China-India relations

Trump, Modi have ‘warm’ phone call – but 2025 unlikely to end with a trade deal

Even after calls for India to contribute more in the Indo-Pacific to counter China and deepen defence ties, Trump refuses to budge on trade concessions.

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Pakistan

5 killed in latest clash at Afghanistan-Pakistan border crossing

Afghanistan

Afghan boy, 13, executes family’s killer in echoes of worst days of Taliban rule

United States

US pauses all immigration applications from 19 countries

The pause applies to people from nations that were already subjected to a partial travel ban in June.

Women gather next to an anti-US mural in Tehran. The list of countries targeted in the US memorandum includes Iran. Photo: West Asia News Agency via Reuters
Open Questions series

Open Questions | Ex-PLA colonel on Taiwan, the Ukraine war, China-US ties

Zhou Bo ponders Japanese PM Takaichi’s recent remarks, lessons from the Ukraine conflict and why China won’t be world’s policeman.

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Afghanistan

3 Chinese citizens killed in Tajik-Afghan border clash

Tajik officials claim the workers were killed in a drone and gun attack from Afghanistan, raising tensions in Tajikistan’s volatile border region.

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Pakistan

Can mediators prevent war between Afghanistan, Pakistan as tensions spike?

Prolonged proxy warfare could create space for terrorist groups such as Isis-K to regenerate and plot overseas attacks, analysts warn.

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Residents clear debris from houses destroyed in air strikes in Khost, Afghanistan, on Tuesday. Photo: EPA
Pakistan

3 Pakistani security officers killed in suicide bombing near Afghan border

One attacker detonated his explosives at the main gate of the paramilitary headquarters while a second was shot and killed in its compound.

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Hong Kong environmental issues

Letters | Rare stingray in Victoria Harbour a welcome sign of nature’s restoration

Readers discuss how Hong Kong’s marine conservation efforts are paying off, plans for a residential development in a Tai Po site, and geopolitical contests in Central Asia.

US-China relations

Opinion | As US and China turn their eyes to Central Asia, Russia loses out

The region that has traditionally been in Russia’s geopolitical orbit is turning into a new arena of competition between the US and China.

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US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a dinner with leaders of Central Asian countries in the East Room of the White House on November 6. Photo: Getty Images/TNS
US-China trade war

US ‘knocking on every country’s door’ as it races to secure rare earth supplies

Washington is determined to break China’s rare earths chokehold in case ties with Beijing fray once again, analysts say.

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China has increasingly used its dominance of global rare earth supplies as leverage in its negotiations with the United States amid the trade war. Photo: AFP
Kazakhstan

Why did Kazakhstan join the Abraham Accords if Israel wasn’t the reason?

It’s all part of the ‘Great Game 2.0’, with Kazakhstan seeing the US as a hedge against China and Russia’s influence, analysts say.

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Art

Kazakh fabric artist reflects on inherited ‘traumas’ in Hong Kong show

The Mills becomes Berlin-based Gulnur Mukazhanova’s canvas as she uses Central Asian textiles to explore perspective and question hope.

Hong Kong economy

Hong Kong to tap new markets amid easing tariff war, confident of export growth

Commerce chief Algernon Yau says Hong Kong needs to diversify exports after last month’s Sino-US trade talks breakthrough.

Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Kwai Chung. Photo: Sam Tsang
Hong Kong economy

Opinion | Hong Kong holds key ‘accelerator’ role as China’s trade strategy evolves

The city’s institutional strengths, strategic location and service capabilities make it a pivotal enabler of China’s changing trade architecture.

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Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu touring the 8th China International Import Expo in Shanghai on November 5. Photo: ISD
Afghanistan

Taliban says Afghanistan-Pakistan ceasefire will hold, despite failed talks

Afghanistan blamed ‘irresponsible and uncooperative’ Pakistan for the failure while Islamabad said Kabul was not clamping down on terrorism.

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Donald Trump

Trump hosts Central Asian leaders as US eyes sources for critical minerals

The C5+1 summit marks Washington’s effort to expand influence in a resource-rich region long dominated by Russia and increasingly courted by China.

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Start-ups

Tencent-backed Uzbek start-up eyes pre-IPO funding round in Hong Kong

Uzum co-founder Nikolay Seleznev is looking at a potential listing in 2027, including in Hong Kong, London, Abu Dhabi and Nasdaq.

Uzum operates e-commerce, fintech and banking services in Uzbekistan. Photo: Handout
US-China relations

Opinion | A US-China thaw could boost Eurasian trade

While China’s interest in Central Asian infrastructure is well established through its Belt and Road Initiative, the US is quietly becoming more active in the region too.

Pakistan

Afghan, Pakistani negotiators to strengthen truce in Istanbul

Islamabad has repeatedly accused its Afghan neighbour of ‘harbouring’ groups it views as ‘terrorist’, primarily the Pakistani Taliban, which Kabul denies.

China trade

At China’s Canton Fair, exporters sense a warming trend in yuan settlements

Chinese traders report a rising number of overseas clients opting to pay using the yuan, signalling a quiet shift away from the US dollar.

A buyer (right) is seen during the 138th edition of the China Import and Export Fair, better known as the Canton Fair, on Wednesday. Sellers say more buyers are open to settling deals in yuan. Photo: Xinhua
Pakistan

Pakistan and Afghanistan agree to ceasefire after deadly fighting

Mediated by Qatar and Turkey, the truce came into effect immediately and is intended to pause hostilities that killed dozens and injured hundreds.

Men look out from a damaged building hit during an alleged Pakistani strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday. Photo: EPA-EFE
Pakistan

Pakistan and Afghanistan agree to immediate ceasefire after Doha peace talks

The two sides are seeking a way forward after border clashes killed dozens and wounded hundreds.

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Pakistan

Pakistan and Afghanistan agree to ceasefire amid escalating tensions

Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of harbouring armed groups, resulting in violence that has killed dozens along the border.

Pakistan

‘Stalemate’: is prolonged Pakistan-Taliban hostility new border reality?

Though an all-out war between Islamabad and Kabul is unlikely, a diplomatic solution also remains elusive, analysts say.

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Smoke rises from a hillside following overnight clashes between Afghan and Pakistani forces along the border on Sunday. Photo: AP
Pakistan

Dozens killed in firefights between Pakistani, Afghan forces along border

Taliban troops attacked border posts in retaliation for a Pakistani air strike in Kabul this week.

A Taliban security official holds a rocket-propelled grenade as he stands guard near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border on Sunday. Photo: AFP
US-China relations

Trump’s Afghan airbase gambit unites India, Pakistan and China in opposition

At Moscow talks, regional rivals joined Russia and Iran in rejecting US president’s bid to reclaim Bagram airbase from the Taliban.

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Banking & finance

Exclusive | Hong Kong the launch pad for China’s new financial ideas, UBS China chief says

Hong Kong is showing the world that China is ‘open for business’, as the financial centre provides a bridge for China’s ideas.

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