International and Bilateral Issues

Kazakhstan's ruling party has swept snap parliamentary elections, but two other parties won seats for the first time.
- President Nursultan Nazarbayev's party, Nur Otan, won 80.74 per cent of the vote
- Two other nominally Opposition parties scraped past the 7 per cent threshold
Mr. Nazarbayev, who has ruled Kazakhstan since 1990, has been criticised for having a one-party Parliament (in the 2007 elections Nur Otan won 88 per cent and no other party won seats). Under a 2009 law if only one party wins parliamentary seats, the next runner-up will get at least two seats.
Monitors from the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) said the vote was transparent, competitive and free.

Without undermining its ties with Iran despite growing military tensions in the region, China is seeking a deeper engagement in the oil and gas sector with Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf states, as part of a developing contingency plan, in order to ensure stable energy supplies.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has just concluded a visit to Saudi Arabia and has arrived on Monday in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as part of a regional tour, which will also take him to Qatar, a leading international natural gas exporter.
Washington is trying to throttle Iran's oil exports, apparently to dissuade Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapon capability — a move that Iran has countered by threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz through which 20 per cent of the world's oil supplies pass.
If “the Strait of Hormuz is blocked, 40 per cent of China's total oil imports will be affected, and the country would face a major energy crisis.