Turkmenistan leader in Beijing; China-Iran war; Rural land contracts; US intelligence does not see invasion of Taiwan in 2027; "Open source" modernization
Today’s top items:
1. Xi meets with Turkmenistan leader - Xi met with Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, National Leader and Chairman of the People’s Council of Turkmenistan. According to the PRC readout of their meeting, among the things Xi called for is expanding “the scale of cooperation in the natural gas sector”:
Xi Jinping emphasized that mutual support is the core essence of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Turkmenistan. No matter how the international situation changes, China will always support Turkmenistan in safeguarding its national independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, always support Turkmenistan in pursuing a policy of permanent neutrality, and always be a trustworthy cooperative partner of Turkmenistan. The two sides should accelerate the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative and the strategy to “Revive the Great Silk Road,” expand the scale of cooperation in the natural gas sector, elevate the level of trade and investment, and broade…