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Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the President of Kazakhstan since 2019. Previously, he held key roles including Prime Minister and Chairman of the Senate. As Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva, he championed nuclear non-proliferation and promoted Geneva as a diplomatic hub.

A commercial vessel is seen off the coast of Dubai on April 20. Photo: AFP

Middle East

Letters | UAE’s Opec exit reflects a complex world

Readers discuss the UAE’s decision to leave the oil cartel, and a Vietnamese leader’s choice to travel twice on China’s high-speed trains.

4 May 2026 - 11:30AM

US, Israel war on Iran

Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt: the Middle East’s new power brokers?

25 Apr 2026 - 1:30PM

US, Israel war on Iran

‘Everybody’s suffering’: Kazakhstan seeks UN reforms amid fragile Iran truce

17 Apr 2026 - 7:49PMvideocam

Central Asia

Beyond a ‘buffer zone’: how the Iran war is recalibrating Central Asian ties

The former Soviet republics are leveraging diplomatic fallout from conflict to assert autonomy and balance major powers, observers say.

15 Mar 2026 - 2:00PMvideocam

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has mobilised the army and recalled diplomats from Tehran following Iranian drone strikes that hit an airport in his country. Photo: AFP

Central Asia

Trains through the Taliban: Central Asia’s plan to bypass Russia and Iran

The Soviet Union severed Central Asia’s ancient trade routes to the Indian subcontinent. The region’s modern-day leaders want them back.

2 Mar 2026 - 11:21AMvideocam

Climate change

Opinion | Why China and Europe should care about Central Asia’s water crisis

Central Asian rivers shape Eurasian trade flows, affect global food markets and contribute to geopolitical instability across the region.

3 Feb 2026 - 5:30AM

World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos

‘For the world’: Trump launches his Board of Peace that some see rivalling UN

The US president signed the board’s charter at a ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

22 Jan 2026 - 8:49PMvideocam

US President Donald Trump holding a signed founding charter with leaders and representatives from other countries. Photo: AFP

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.

10 Nov 2025 - 11:00PMvideocam

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.

10 Nov 2025 - 5:06PMvideocam

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.

7 Nov 2025 - 1:44PMvideocam

President Donald Trump hosting leaders of five Central Asian countries at the White House. Photo: EPA

China trade

Kazakhstan seeks investment to become ‘transit hub’ for China-Europe trade

Deputy trade minister Asset Nussupov says obstacles need to be cleared for ‘Middle Corridor’ trade route to flourish.

9 Oct 2025 - 9:00PM

Enthusiastic crowds welcomed President Xi Jinping in Astana, Kazakhstan, in June, when he attended the China-Central Asia Summit. Photo: Xinhua

E-commerce

China-Kazakhstan cross-border e-commerce ties to grow: Freedom Holding CEO

Kazakhstan has been the primary destination for China’s Belt and Road Initiative investments in the first six months of 2025.

11 Sep 2025 - 7:00AM

China's military weapons

China parades statecraft and hardware as world faces ‘critical’ choices

From the rostrum overlooking Tiananmen Square, Beijing makes a diplomatic stand for a multipolar world.

3 Sep 2025 - 10:01PMvideocam

Belt and Road Initiative

China steps up Belt and Road Initiative funding with focus on Central Asia

The region received an ‘unusually high concentration’ of investment, particularly in metals and mining, new research has found.

28 Aug 2025 - 12:11AMvideocam

Central Asia

Opinion | Why Central Asia plays a growing role in China’s strategic calculus

Cooperation on trade, infrastructure, energy and more shows that China sees Central Asia as an important trade partner and geopolitical buffer.

3 Jul 2025 - 5:30AMvideocam

Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) shakes hands with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev before flying back to Beijing after the completion of the second China-Central Asia Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, on June 18. Photo: Xinhua

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

.css-19im5qg{color:#c79a00;}Letters | UAE’s Opec exit reflects a complex world

Readers discuss the UAE’s decision to leave the oil cartel, and a Vietnamese leader’s choice to travel twice on China’s high-speed trains.

Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt: the Middle East’s new power brokers?

‘Everybody’s suffering’: Kazakhstan seeks UN reforms amid fragile Iran truce

Beyond a ‘buffer zone’: how the Iran war is recalibrating Central Asian ties

The former Soviet republics are leveraging diplomatic fallout from conflict to assert autonomy and balance major powers, observers say.

Trains through the Taliban: Central Asia’s plan to bypass Russia and Iran

The Soviet Union severed Central Asia’s ancient trade routes to the Indian subcontinent. The region’s modern-day leaders want them back.

.css-1pcrwvc{color:#2aa191;}Opinion | Why China and Europe should care about Central Asia’s water crisis

Central Asian rivers shape Eurasian trade flows, affect global food markets and contribute to geopolitical instability across the region.

‘For the world’: Trump launches his Board of Peace that some see rivalling UN

The US president signed the board’s charter at a ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

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.

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.

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.

Kazakhstan seeks investment to become ‘transit hub’ for China-Europe trade

Deputy trade minister Asset Nussupov says obstacles need to be cleared for ‘Middle Corridor’ trade route to flourish.

China-Kazakhstan cross-border e-commerce ties to grow: Freedom Holding CEO

Kazakhstan has been the primary destination for China’s Belt and Road Initiative investments in the first six months of 2025.

China parades statecraft and hardware as world faces ‘critical’ choices

From the rostrum overlooking Tiananmen Square, Beijing makes a diplomatic stand for a multipolar world.

China steps up Belt and Road Initiative funding with focus on Central Asia

The region received an ‘unusually high concentration’ of investment, particularly in metals and mining, new research has found.

Opinion | Why Central Asia plays a growing role in China’s strategic calculus

Cooperation on trade, infrastructure, energy and more shows that China sees Central Asia as an important trade partner and geopolitical buffer.

Letters | UAE’s Opec exit reflects a complex world

Opinion | Why China and Europe should care about Central Asia’s water crisis