Thailand to buy a submarine from China
Politics & Current Affairs
Top politics and current affairs news for February 2, 2017. Part of the daily The China Project news roundup "Unrest along the New Silk Road."
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Thailand and China: Brothers in arms / Nikkei Asian Review
Last week, the military government of Thailand earmarked $380 million to purchase a submarine from China. Nikkei Asian Review sees the news as evidence that Thailand is cementing its shift toward China, which may spur the U.S. to work to restore bilateral ties that were damaged after Thailand’s 2014 military coup. China, meanwhile, sees Thailand as a gateway to Southeast Asia, and is keen to reward the Thai government’s neutral stance on the South China Sea. Further issues at play are a Thai proposal to host a Chinese weapons production center, and a multinational Asian military exercise called Cobra Gold about which the U.S. is yet to decide its level of participation.
- Grenades thrown at police on China-Myanmar border during bust of drug-trafficking operation / SCMP
- China firing blanks in ‘war on pollution’ as smog worsens / SCMP
- China plans to destroy an ancient Buddhist city to get the copper buried there – in Afghanistan / CNBC
- China homes collapse, nine buried – in Wenzhou / Xinhua
