On January 25, 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired a meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoye in virtual format. As per official pronouncements, the objective of the summit was to commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Central Asian countries.
China-Central Asia Summit
China is an immediate neighbor of Central Asia and shares boundaries with three Republics of the region, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, in its restive Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), where people have ethnic and cultural connections across Central Asia. China maintains a dominant economic presence in Central Asia. According to the Chinese Government data, trade between China and Central Asian countries has grown by more than 100 times in the past 30 years.[i] However, China’s relationship with Central Asian countries is not trouble free. The region’s trade is balanced in favour of China. Most recent survey based study undertaken in Kazakhstan has suggested that “perceptions of China are changing, and preliminary evidence that COVID-19 has exacerbated the negative perceptions of China in Central Asia.”[ii] Another study notes that “not everyone in Kyrgyzstan is happy about China’s growing influence, with concerns being raised among the general populace over possible land takeovers, ecological degradation by Chinese firms and the persecution of ethnic Kyrgyz in China’s Xinjiang region”.[iii] Further, the study informs that a number of anti-Chinese rallies have taken place across the country.
The Summit might have been aimed at assuaging some of the concerns in Central Asia about China. In the Summit, President Xi Jinping delivered a speech entitled “Joining Hands for a Shared Future”[iv] and a joint statement was issued following the meeting. The highlight of the meeting included following statements/outcomes:[v]
Further, Chinese leadership proposed: (i) trade target of US $70 billion by 2030; (ii) a dialogue mechanism on e-commerce cooperation, and holding a forum on industrial and investment cooperation; (iii) a grant assistance of US $500 million to Central Asian countries in support of livelihood programmes in the next three years; (iv) 5,000 seminar and workshop opportunities to help Central Asian countries train professionals in health, poverty reduction, connectivity, information technology and other fields; (v) 1,200 Chinese government scholarships to the five Central Asian countries; and (vi) 50 million more doses of vaccines to Central Asian countries in 2022.[vii]
Central Asian republics pursue multi-vector foreign policy. Apart from engaging China, the Republics also held a virtual Summit meeting with India on 27 January 2022. The Central Asian leaders were invited in December 2021 to be India’s Republic Day Chief Guests at New Delhi on 26 January 2022. Since the Central Asian leaders could not undertake the visit to India due to the pandemic,[viii] China utilised the available time to host the virtual meeting on January 25th, the date on which the leaders of five Central Asian countries were supposed to be in Delhi gracing the Republic Day occasion. It seems that China’s expedient and hurried organization of Summit was as an effort to catch up with India’s historic regional initiative.
It can be said that the recent initiatives by India involving China’s immediate neighbourhood (Central Asia) is becoming a factor which has begun to influence Chinese policy in the region. India’s emerging success story in China’s immediate neighbourhood prompted the Chinese leadership to host a similar summit.
Conclusion
China’s policy in Central Asia has been primarily aimed at safeguarding its national security interests, resource security and economic development. The assertive policies pursued under Xi Jinping reflect the country’s strong desire to be a dominant power in Asia and the world. This raises serious concerns, particularly in China’s neighbourhood including Central Asia. While the settlement of boundaries with Central Asian countries has been highlighted in the Summit’s joint statement, the settlement has left many people in the region dissatisfied as the region had to cede its land to China.
In recent times, Chinese media have acknowledged the presence of ‘China threat’ narrative in Central Asia. The initiatives announced during the China-Central Asia Summit resonate China’s quest to serve its national interest and assuage negative perceptions in Central Asia about China.
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Dr. Sanjeev Kumar, Senior Research Fellow, Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi.
Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal.
[i] Xinhua, “China-Central Asia trade grew by 100 times over 30 years: ministry” Beijing, 17 January 2022, http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/20220117/7ae337fb28f64be9a8e3c55170990ddf/c.html, accessed 27 January 2022
[ii] Jessica Neafie, “Anti-Chinese Sentiment, the BRI, and COVID-19: Kazakhstani Perceptions of China in Central Asia” in Jean-François Caron and Hélène Thibault (eds.) Central Asia and the Covid-19 Pandemic (Palgrave Macmillan: 2022) available at https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-16-7586-7_5, accessed on 1 February 2022
[iii] Dana Rice “The ‘Sick Man of Asia’: Exploring Popular Perceptions of China in Kyrgyzstan” in Jean-François Caron and Hélène Thibault (eds.) Central Asia and the Covid-19 Pandemic (Palgrave Macmillan: 2022) available at https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-16-7586-7_4, accessed on 1 February 2022
[iv] Xinhua “Full Text: Remarks by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Virtual Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations Between China and Central Asian Countries” Beijing Available at http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/20220125/3227dd74149e43bf89507f382e1451b4/c.html. accessed on 28 January 2022
[v] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC “中国同中亚五国领导人关于建交30周年的联合声明” (Joint Statement of the Leaders of China and the Five Central Asian Countries on the 30th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations) Beijing 25.01.2022 available at https://www.mfa.gov.cn/zyxw/202201/t20220126_10633759.shtml, . accessed on 28 January 2022
[vi] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC “中国同中亚五国领导人关于建交30周年的联合声明” (Joint Statement of the Leaders of China and the Five Central Asian Countries on the 30th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations) ” Beijing 25.01.2022 available at https://www.mfa.gov.cn/zyxw/202201/t20220126_10633759.shtml, . accessed on 28 January 2022
[vii] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC “Xi Jinping Chairs the Virtual Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations Between China and Central Asian Countries” Beijing , 25.01.2022 available at https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/202201/t20220126_10634121.html accessed and “中国同中亚五国领导人关于建交30周年的联合声明(全文)” Beijing 25.01.2022 available at https://www.mfa.gov.cn/zyxw/202201/t20220126_10633759.shtml, accessed on 28 January 2022
[viii]Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury, “India to propose biennial summit with Central Asia and secretariat in Delhi,” 25 January 2022, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/india-to-propose-biennial-summit-with-central-asia-and-secretariat-in-delhi/articleshow/89101326.cms, accessed 27 January 2022