China party congress: The twice-a-decade event is billed as a bottom-up election, with constitutional authority bestowed on several thousand congressional delegates to vote on a 200-member committee, which in turn elects around 25 Politburo members, five to ten standing committee members and the party’s general secretary – China’s top leader, Christopher Scott writes. The legacy of President Xi Jinping will be measured by appointments to key positions and the possible enshrining of his political philosophies into the party’s constitution. Political observers, as well as the markets, will anxiously await revelations on these two fronts. The composition of the 19th Party Congress Politburo and Standing Committee will likely not be revealed until the last day (October 25), but Xi’s work report was revealed today. As actually implemented, the positions are decided in advance of the meetings through a process of jostling and closed-door deliberations among the country’s top leaders. What we know: Xi Jinping will be reelected to a second term as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.
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Afghanistan development boost: The country has been accepted as a permanent member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), MK Bhadrakumar writes. Jin Liqun, president of the Beijing-based institution, formally presented a certificate confirming the country’s new status to Afghan Finance Minister Eklil Hakimi on Friday on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington. The Afghan government said in a statement on Saturday that the two sides “discussed the progress in Afghanistan’s membership in this bank, providing financial and technical facilities for solar energy, railway connectivity of five countries (Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Iran and China), financing infrastructure projects and some other important subjects.” It said it attaches great importance to Afghanistan’s AIIB membership and hopes it “paves the way for the implementation of major national projects,” adding that Jin will visit Kabul in the near future “in order to begin the practical work of this cooperation.”
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Thailand stocks rally: While the Southeast Asian country officially mourns the death of King Bhumibol, its market has started to rejoice, Shawn W Crispin writes. The Stock Exchange of Thailand index hit its highest level in 24 years earlier this month, breaking through a psychological barrier dating back to the country’s pre-1997-98 Asian financial crisis boom, though still below the market’s all-time high of 1,789 hit in January 1994. The market has surged nearly 10% over the last six weeks. That has sparked a local debate about how much the country’s ruling military junta can take credit for the recent gains. Through the first seven months of this year, the SET was flat while other regional markets soared, many of which have hit new historic highs in recent weeks. The SET was among Asia’s best performers, up over 20%, in 2016. But slow economic growth of 3.5%, high household debts, industrial overhang and slower than expected infrastructure spending, and the national period of mourning had until recently contributed to this year’s subdued market spirits.
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Trump Philippines visit: The US president plans to visit Manila for next month’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, where he will meet the country’s controversial leader, Rodrigo Duterte, William Pesek writes. They both have authoritarian tendencies, salty tongues, questionable histories with women, an affection for dictators, problems with Barack Obama and the Pope, and don’t care much for the folks at Amnesty International. Hopefully, they won’t compare notes in Manila next month, lest two of the global economy’s most erratic leaders feed off one another. A US president shouldn’t be meeting bilaterally with a leader whose policies have filled more body bags – more than 7,000 and counting – than Ferdinand Marcos did over 20 years of brutal rule. These extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers and users would warrant a boycott from any normal American president and strong rebukes. That’s not the Donald Trump White House, of course.
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Congress Taiwan declaration: China has the determination, confidence and ability to defeat any activities related to the island’s independence, Xi Jinping, the general secretary of the Communist Party of China, said on Wednesday, Jeff Pao writes. “We safeguard our country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity with determination and never tolerate any separation of our land from our country,” Xi told the party’s 19th National Congress. “We will not allow anyone, any organization, any political party to split our country at any time in any form.” Xi used those strong words against Taiwan independence after Tsai Ing-wen, who was elected president of the island in May 2016, took an ambiguous stand on the “1992 Consensus,” in which semi-official representatives from the two sides of the Taiwan Strait outlined the “One China Principle.” Xi said, “The One China Principle is the political foundation of [cross] Strait relations.”
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Asia Times app: Asia Times has launched an app for both iOS- and Android-based devices that delivers the publication’s regular daily news, commentary, blogs and live coverage while also bringing readers added functionality. As we report here, the app, launched on July 25, includes content notification, share and save functions and is free to download from both the Apple Store and Google Play