On the 15th of February, the first Chinese cargo train to be used in China’s "One Belt, One Road" (OBOR) initiative, arrived in Tehran. The development is quite significant for Iranian businesses, since China is Tehran’s biggest trading partner and top energy market. The plan is to extend the railway up to Europe, linking Central Asia to the Mediterranean Sea via the Persian Gulf. After the Mediterranean, Central and Eastern Europe represents China’s "bridge to Europe" and better relations with CEE states can boost overall relations with the EU. Already on the 26th of November 2015, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang hosted the fourth annual "16 + 1" meeting in Suzhou (China) which brings together leaders from China and 16 CEE countries, forming a platform where future deals are made, concerning for instance the infrastructural set up of the plan. Up to 60 countries may be included in the OBOR across three different continents.
Read More
General elections were held in Taiwan to elect the President, Vice President and the Legislative Yuan. Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was elected President with 56% of the votes. Her main rival, Eric Chu, of the Kuomintang Party obtained 31% of the votes. The DPP also secured a majority in the legislature (44% of the votes and 68 seats in the 113-seat parliament). The success of Tsai Ing-wen, the first women in history to become president of Taiwan, and the win of the DPP in the parliamentary elections, might result in worsening relations with China. Beijing considers the island to be a rebellious province.
On 1 January 2016, members of ASEAN have agreed to establish a common market. The member countries have a combined population of 625 million people, 8.8% of the world population. In the last decade, the organisation’s combined nominal GDP grew by 13.5% annually. Although ASEAN looks similar to the European Union on the surface, it has 20% more population and will thus become the largest integrated economic market in the world. Nevertheless, the process of achieving “unity” will continue for a long time.
The foreign ministers of 26 Asian and European countries met to discuss the current situation in Afghanistan. The topic of the annual meeting, which is organized every five years, was to ensure peace and development in Afghanistan as well as a deepening of the regional cooperation. They adopted the "Islamabad Declaration", aiming at further economic development in the war-ravaged country.
The 16 + 1 (16 European countries + China) cooperation format was launched in 2012. This year's summit took place in the Chinese city of Suzhou. The main topics discussed were: China's "One Belt, one Road" initiative in the context of the development of transport and communication links between Europe and Asia, agriculture, tourism, and cooperation in the field of trade and investment. Poland was represented by President Andrzej Duda. The meeting adopted a cooperation plan for 2016 ("Notice of Suzhou") and the medium-term plan of cooperation for 2020.
During the 27th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, the "Declaration on the Establishment of the ASEAN Community", the "Declaration on ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together" and the "ASEAN Convention against Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children" were signed. The creation of an economic community is crucial because it will create conditions for an improvement in the free flow of trade and capital in the region.
The theme of the year-long hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation was "Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World". According to preliminary plans, participants had to concentrate mainly on issues of economic cooperation, regional conflicts (especially disputes between China and its neighbors) and the fight against climate change. The summit was, however, dominated by issues of combating terrorism, especially due to the recent bombings in Paris and the civil war in Syria.
It was the country’s first national vote since a nominally civilian government was introduced in 2011, ending nearly 50 years of military rule. The opposition party, National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, won the election with a supermajority in the parliament. This gives her the opportunity to choose the president and form a government. However, NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from presidency because both her late husband and her children have foreign citizenship. The military has announced the recognition of the election results.
