Natural Gas Pipeline Between Turkmenistan And Xinjiang Opens

While we in the West focus on Tiger Wood's latest mistress and Kourtney Kardashian's baby, China just opened a natural gas pipeline that connects Turkmenistan (which ranks #4 in the world in natural gas production) to China's restive Xinjiang province. The pipeline runs through vibrant democracies Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. It never touches Russian territory. Within three years, half of all the natural gas pumped out of Turkmenistan will be sent to China. This is a small, but significant, step for China in its path to superpower status.

Don't worry; Russia is on it. Medvedev is flying to Turkmenistan within the next two weeks.