When it comes to Central Asia, one of the hottest topics among Western policymakers and scholars alike is China’s engagement in the region, especially since the 2013 launch of the Belt and Road Initiative. In a recent quantitative analysis of Chinese scholarship on Central Asia, Frank Maracchione and Bradley Jardine tackled some prominent assumptions in … Read more
Given the vital importance of oil and gas in fueling modern societies, securing access to such resources forms an integral component of a country’s foreign policy. Transnational pipeline projects can either aggravate interstate relations – as in the case of an energy-rich state halting supplies to neighboring countries – or promote cooperation, such as the peace pipeline … Read more
Chinese President Xi Jinping chose to visit Central Asia in the fall of 2022 for his first official trip abroad since the pandemic. A year later he hosted all five Central Asian leaders at a summit in Xi’an, China, reinforcing the sense of deepening relations between China and the region. In addition, Beijing marked the … Read more
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022, Central Asia has found itself in the diplomatic spotlight – a showy summit with China’s president in Xi’an, a historic summit with the U.S. president in New York, and a busy schedule of diplomatic visits to the region. But Central Asia’s geopolitical position lends itself … Read more
Advertisement As hip Chinese businessmen sip on beverages in Dushanbe, halfway to Murgab, at nearly 12,000 feet, in Tajikistan’s remote Pamir region where Afghanistan lays literally a stone’s throw away across the Panj river, rugged but equally confident Chinese foremen direct the operators of monster-looking excavators expanding the region’s unnerving narrow cliff-side roads. In this … Read more
Crossroads Asia | Society | Central Asia An interview with Chinese diplomacy researcher Giulia Sciorati. Advertisement The China-Central Asia summit held in Xi’an last month marked the opening of the “Year of Culture and Art of the Peoples of China and Central Asia.” Besides an important occasion to take stock of infrastructure and business deals in the region, the … Read more
Advertisement Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the leaders of Central Asia — Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmen President Serdar Berdymuhamedov, and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev — gathered for the first time in person (although it is the third China-Central Asia summit since the format was kicked off … Read more