Like all new blogs, this one is going to take a little while to hit its stride. But to get things going, here’s a quick look at the state of things on September 2, 2008.

Politics
The last meeting between Hu Jintao and Dmitry Medvedev took place in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on August 27 on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. All nice tea and biscuits stuff – Olympic camaraderie, sound momentum of development of bilateral ties, dialogue and cooperation on the Georgia issue.

Economics
Vladimir Putin was in Vladivostok to kick the city into gear for hosting the 2012 APEC summit, and he used the trip to hint at major investment in Asia ahead. According to the Moscow Times:

“We are ready, and will offer our foreign colleagues a positive agenda dedicated to developing an economic partnership,” Putin said in comments published on the Cabinet’s web site. Russia wants to use the event as a springboard for its business ties in the rapidly developing region, he said.

Elsewhere, there’s been a flurry of deals in Central Asia with Hu and Medvedev both in the area. For example in Tajikistan: China kept it vague on August 28 about “optimising economic ties and “expanding” cooperation in transportation, telecommunications, mineral exploration and processing, as well as agriculture and infrastructure” while Russia counteracted with some Gazprom-led energy investment on September 1.

More, soon.