Politics

3 April 2025
The first EU-Central Asia Summit is taking place in Samarkand. (Nikkei montage)
Arkadag won its first 20 games of the season to clinch the league title. (Photo from Football Federation of Turkmenistan)
Sports

Turkmenistan's 'can't lose' soccer champs stir Soviet-era memories

Arkadag FC named after Central Asian nation's authoritarian ex-president

16 December 2023
Wind turbines in Kazakhstan's Almaty region. Japan and five central Asian countries have inaugurated a new ministerial-level dialogue on decarbonization.
Climate Change

Japan launches new decarbonization dialogue with Central Asia

Tokyo aims to blunt Russian and Chinese influence in key region

27 September 2023
Turkmenistan's Serdar Berdymukhamedov has seen his path to the presidency quickly truncated amid rumors of his father's ill health.
Politics

Turkmenistan election spells change at top, little for public

President's heir Serdar offers quiet contrast to rally driving, horse riding father

11 March 2022
Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov rides a horse in an Independence Day parade last September. He says it is time to transfer power to "young leaders." 
Politics

Secretive Turkmenistan speeds toward father-son power transfer

March snap election takes observers by surprise in rocky year for Central Asia

17 February 2022
The delayed TAPI gas pipeline promises to link Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India, but security risks threaten this and other regional connectivity projects.
International relations

India's first Central Asia summit to focus on Afghan risks, trade

Shared security challenges loom over Thursday's talks and port, pipeline hopes

26 January 2022
The India-funded Chabahar Port in Iran in early 2019. New Delhi wants the site to become a gateway to trade with Central Asia. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
International relations

Spotlight on trade gateway as India hosts talks with Central Asia

Sunday discussions look set to focus on New Delhi-funded port in Iran

18 December 2021
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government have launched an ambitious diplomatic campaign aimed at stabilizing the region around Afghanistan. (Source photo by Reuters)
Afghanistan turmoil

Pakistan lobbies neighbors to push for inclusive Afghan government

Islamabad ready to offer recognition if Taliban forms multiethnic regime

26 August 2021
Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov arrives for the Japanese emperor's enthronement in 2019: His succession plans are stirring speculation as his son rises through the ranks.
Politics

Is Turkmenistan's secretive presidency becoming a family affair?

Son of Berdymukhamedov 'the protector' rises amid political and economic changes

27 March 2021
Women in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on July 13: The country continues to insist it is coronavirus-free.
Coronavirus

WHO leaves Turkmenistan in COVID gray zone as neighbors face surge

Central Asian nation says it has no cases but is advised to act like it does

18 July 2020
A bridge construction site of the Bar-Boljare highway, pictured in June 2018: for Montenegro any concerns were far outweighed by the potential economic benefit of the new road.
Opinion

For developing world, Belt and Road Initiative is best deal around

China's infrastructure offer supports economic growth in Europe, Africa and Asia

6 May 2020
A Kazakh crew disinfects the streets of the capital, Nur-Sultan, on March 25. The country was the first to record COVID-19 cases in Central Asia.
Coronavirus

Central Asia virus responses run gamut from crisis to nonchalance

Pandemic tests economies, health systems, China ties -- and folk remedies

1 April 2020
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lambasted China for its treatment of its Muslim minorities on his visit to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
International relations

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan spurn US call to confront China

Pompeo's plea to end 'repression' of Muslim minorities also draws Chinese ire

13 February 2020
Foreign students in Japan are allowed to work in unskilled-labor positions, such as convenience store work, for up to 28 hours per week. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi) 
Japan immigration

Japan intensifies crackdown on student visa overstayers

Number of countries subject to stricter checks to increase tenfold

11 February 2020
Despite the fanfare surrounding use of Gwadar port for trade with Afghanistan, experts say the facility has a long way to go before China sees any return on its investment.
Belt and Road

Beijing-backed Pakistan port opens as hub for Afghanistan trade

Gwadar challenges Indian interests in region, but China's ROI remains unclear

23 January 2020
Central Asia's most populous country has the veneer of a multiparty system but no true opposition.
Politics

Uzbekistan election exposes limits of image-polishing reforms

China's economic influence will inevitably become political, experts say

19 December 2019
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in a written interview with the Nikkei Asian Review, said joining the World Trade Organization and cracking down on corruption are among his immediate priorities.
Interview

Uzbekistan plans over $6bn in joint projects with Japan

President Mirziyoyev to pitch resource development during Japan trip

18 December 2019
Tetsu Nakamura speaks to Nikkei on Sept. 14, 2018 in Fukuoka. (Photo by Mamoru Yago)
Obituaries

Japanese doctor who watered Afghan deserts: Nakamura in his own words

Tetsu Nakamura talked about his life and mission in 2018 Nikkei interview

9 December 2019
Tetsu Nakamura in the Gamberi Desert, Afghanistan in 2008
Obituaries

Tetsu Nakamura: Humanitarian who devoted his life to Afghanistan

Slain Japanese doctor wanted to 'shine light into dark corners'

5 December 2019
A Chinese freight train travels through the Marmaray Tunnel under the Bosporus in Istanbul early Thursday. The journey was the first uninterrupted freight train journey from Turkey to Europe, transporting cargo from China while skirting Russia. (Anatolia News Agency)
Belt and Road

Chinese freight train skirts Russia on new route into Europe

Japan-built Bosporus tunnel allows Beijing to diversify cargo transportation

9 November 2019
The talks between representatives of Taliban militants and a number of Afghan political factions in Beijing come as the U.S. has yet to resume peace talks with the Taliban. (Nikkei Montage)
Belt and Road

China to host Afghan rivals in drive to expand Belt and Road

Taliban included in peace talks as Beijing aims to isolate Xinjiang separatists

27 October 2019
Afghanistan's president Ashraf Ghani speaks in an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review in Tokyo on Oct. 22. (Photo by Shihoko Nakaoka)
Interview

Afghan president wants direct talks with Taliban, if reelected

Ghani says Pakistan holds key and needs 'to be constructive' toward peace process

22 October 2019
Khaltmaagiin Battulga's first state visit to India is an example of the way smaller countries on China's periphery are seeking allies to balance their neighbor's growing might.
Opinion

Mongolia needs allies to withstand China's looming threat

Ulaanbaatar turns to US and India in face of Beijing's military and economic might

9 October 2019
The liberal visa requirements are helping to expand tourism and foster regional integration.
Interview

Uzbekistan still pushing 'Silk Visa', trade minister says

More Japanese business investment wanted as Chinese presence reigns supreme

8 October 2019
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga attend a welcoming ceremony ahead of their September talks in Ulaanbaatar.
International relations

Russia renews interest in Mongolia to counter Chinese influence

Rebuilding ties with former close ally crucial to Moscow's pivot to the east

3 October 2019
Since the 1990s, all aspects of Kazakh-Sino relations -- delimiting the common border, bilateral trade, Chinese companies' arrival in the Kazakh oil and gas sector -- have been 99% closed to public scrutiny, one analyst says.
International relations

Kazakh president's upcoming Beijing trip stokes Sino-phobia

Transparency needed if Kazakhstan is to benefit from China projects: analysts

10 September 2019
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, center, hand shakes with Afghan counterpart Salahuddin Rabbani, right, and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi prior to a meeting in Islamabad on Sept. 7.
International relations

China edges closer to Afghanistan as US cancels peace talks

Taliban attacks irk Trump, opening the door for Beijing's overtures to Islamabad

9 September 2019
From left, Naypyidaw, Putrajaya and Astana (source photo from Reuters)
Politics

A short history of relocating capitals in Asia

Indonesia's move has precedents in places such as Myanmar and Malaysia

30 August 2019
Chinese and Afghan national flags flutter on a lamppost on the Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
Belt and Road

Afghanistan peace talks open way for China's Belt and Road

As US looks to end its longest war, Beijing cultivates ties with Taliban

27 August 2019
Chinese President Xi Jinping is pushing his signature Belt and Road Initiative with the goal of creating a massive economic zone that will link China to Europe by land and sea.
Comment

Russia is in danger of being overrun by China's Belt and Road

A new Eurasian order is in the making, with Beijing in the driver's seat

17 August 2019