With Russia At War, China Courts Central Asia

 

Although they've pledged a "no limits" friendship, the relationship between the two authoritarian governments may not extend to the five former Soviet states of Central Asia. China is holding a summit of those nations -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan -- in Xi'An, the ancient terminus of the Silk Road, promising to provide financial support and protection. Those countries are nervous after Russian thug and war criminal Vladimir Putin's invasion of neighboring Ukraine and attack on Georgia in 2008, and China wants them to look toward Beijing for security. From the linked article:

"China promised billions of dollars in 'financing support and free assistance' to five Central Asian countries on Friday, as top leader Xi Jinping presented a wide-ranging security and defense plan to a region that has long been in Russia’s orbit.  [snip]

Xi told the Central Asian leaders that China could boost the region’s 'law enforcement, security and defense capability construction.' Over the course of the two-day meeting, he met each leader and signed bilateral agreements boosting trade, infrastructure and technology investment, and making visa-free travel arrangements.

Beijing is angling for greater influence in Central Asia as Moscow remains focused on its grinding war in Ukraine. Chinese state media have echoed that language.

'The countries of Central Asia have realized that Russia is having so much difficulty in its fight against Ukraine that it is not wise to completely rely on Russia — they must find a way out,' read a commentary in the nationalist tabloid Defense Times." (our emphasis)

Although anything undermining Russia's imperial interests is a welcome development, China has its own legacy of making poor countries poorer with their economic development loans, as our post yesterday noted. Its expansionist and militaristic policies are alarming our Asian allies, and counteracting those policies will be a major focus of the G7 meeting taking place over the next three days in Hiroshima, Japan. 

(photo: Central Asian leaders and Xi, center, in Xi'An. Reuters)