Articles that should not be missed on Sunday, October 7, 2018

• Washington vs Beijing: US Proxies Emerge Ahead of Thai Elections by Joseph Thomas from New Eastern Outlook.

• The new Silk route on rails by Nat South from A bird's eye view of the Vineyard. 

Although China-Europe rail freight may have a negative impact on air cargo, it will not significantly change for the foreseeable time the huge amounts of containers (TEUs) shifted by containerships. Some of sea-freight and a lot of airfreight might end on rail lines, depending on the location of the production of goods. Having said that, rail does offer a faster option than sea freight, an option that simply didn’t exist before 2010. Significantly, the rail option also usefully by-passes maritime chokepoints such as the Malacca Strait, Bab el Mandeb and the Suez Canal.