Small islands prefer China as development partner

Today's headlines: Iran sends fuel to Myanmar's regime using ghost ships, while Beijing executes 11 members of the Ming family involved in online scams; Vietnam and the EU upgrade diplomatic relations; The Taliban designate half of public spending on security. In South Korea, more and more minors are gambling.

CHINA – PACIFIC

According to a recent ODI Global survey, small island states consider China their most valuable partner for development assistance following the United States' decision to cut international aid funding and stop fighting climate change. The survey included countries in the Caribbean (where Beijing has surprisingly surpassed the United States despite the geographical distance) and the South China Sea, including the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Barbados, Cape Verde, Mauritius and the Maldives.

MYANMAR

According to an investigation by Reuters and Amnesty International, Iran is also sending fuel to the Burmese military junta via ghost ships (the same method that Russia and North Korea use to circumvent Western sanctions), enabling the generals to conduct aerial bombardments against civilians and armed resistance groups. In 2025 alone, at least 109,604 tonnes of aviation fuel were imported into Myanmar, an increase of 69% compared to 2024 and the highest annual amount since the 2021 coup. Meanwhile, China has carried out the death sentence on 11 members of the Ming family, who ran scam centres and illegal trafficking in the Burmese city of Laukkaing.

VIETNAM – EU

Vietnam and the European Union today elevated their diplomatic relations to the same level as China, the United States and Russia. This is a diplomatic move that does not involve binding commitments, but which carries political weight in the current context of global uncertainty. Both sides face higher tariffs on exports to the United States. Bilateral cooperation will be strengthened in a number of areas, including defence, rare earths, semiconductors, transport and reliable communications infrastructure.

AFGHANISTAN

The Taliban spent nearly half of public spending on security in the first nine months of fiscal year 2025. This is according to the Central Bank's Afghanistan Economic Monitor, which reports that security spending reached 96.9 billion Afghanis (£1.4 billion), accounting for 47.8% of total spending, while development spending remained limited to 15.7 billion Afghanis. During the same period, GDP fell by 4% and the economy continues to struggle due to the return of the population expelled from neighbouring countries, the prolonged closure of the border with Pakistan and the lack of private investment.

SOUTH KOREA

Gambling among young people in Seoul is on the rise: according to a metropolitan police survey of 34,779 students, 20.9% of respondents had witnessed gambling, more than double the previous year, while the percentage of those who had participated in gambling rose from 1.5% to 2.1%. The age of exposure is getting lower and lower: fifth-grade students represent the largest share of gamblers trying gambling for the first time. About 14% have incurred debts.

RUSSIA

The Moscow Duma has approved an amendment to the law regulating extraditions, now called the “Tortuga law” in memory of the pirate island, as it is planned to enlist criminals detained in all countries with which there is an exchange of Russian citizens in prison abroad, those to whom Russia decides to grant political asylum, those wanted or convicted in absentia by Russian courts or those whom Russia does not consider guilty, to fight in the war in Ukraine.

KAZAKHSTAN

Tobacco factories in Kazakhstan have produced the highest quantity of cigarettes in the last decade, with production increasing by a third in the last year alone, according to EnergyProm, with 24.4 billion cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products, with earnings of 534.4 billion tenge (over one billion euros), with large increases in domestic consumption, but also in exports, with increasingly high prices, up to 970 tenge.

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