Belarus: a look inside Europe's 'last dictatorship'

Large banners, written in Chinese characters, cordon off a zone on the outskirts of Minsk. An entire Chinese neighbourhood is under construction, with shops and towering residences soon to emerge from the vast fields of mud.

It is a strange apparition for a country where immigrants and tourists are few and far between.

"A Chinatown in Minsk?" locals ask incredulously, in a country where even mainstream society - let alone Minsk-based opposition activists - is becoming increasing...