Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

Central Asian connectivity: Going beyond China

Central Asia is experiencing a connectivity boom, with China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ the most dominant vision for the region. Yet this dominance has started to worry Central Asian powers, leading to the emergence of a new narrative – that of diversification. With China becoming the region’s most influential economic actor, steadily increasing its role in local security and politics, Central Asian powers are seeking to broaden their engagement and bring to life a long-advocated ‘multi-vector’ diplomatic approach. (The Interpreter)

Silent Prayer: The Chinese state’s siege on Uyghur ways of worship

The tomb of the Muslim saint Imam Asim lies in China’s Taklamakan Desert, at the end of a long walkway lined with poplar trees. An elevated mud structure, the shrine would easily be camouflaged by the sand if not for the flags, rams’ skulls and strips of cloth decorating it. It is located near the town of Hotan, in the autonomous region of Xinjiang, in the country’s north-west—the homeland of the Turkic-speaking Uyghur Muslim community. For centuries, Uyghur Sufis would journey through the desert between shrines such as this one, stopping at each to recite poems celebrating religious heroes. (Caravan Magazine)

Kazakhstan’s Ageing Leader Gives Green Signal to Constitutional Reforms
Kazakhstan’s veteran leader Nursultan Nazarbayev gave the green light on Wednesday for constitutional reforms that could dilute the sweeping powers he has amassed as president and force his eventual successor to share power with other institutions. Kazakhstan, an exporter of oil and metals, is the only former Soviet republic that is still run by its communist leader. Now aged 76, Nazarbayev has so far not identified a clear successor and investors fear what may come after him.
His office said in a brief statement that Nazarbayev had set up a working group tasked with drafting legal reforms to redistribute powers between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. (Reuters)

China-Iran rail route ensures fastest cargo supplies to Gulf states

The China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway is today considered to be the shortest way to deliver cargo from China to the markets of the Persian Gulf countries, the Chinese newspaper Jenmin Jibao reported citing Chinar Rustamova, Turkmenistan’s ambassador to China.The Turkmen diplomat made the remarks at a symposium dedicated to the 25th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between China and Turkmenistan. The total length of the China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway route is around 10,000 kilometers and the journey time is around two weeks. (Trend News Agency)

China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor: the next step towards a Eurasian highway

The ‘Plan on establishing the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor’ signed by China, Mongolia and Russia in June 2016 can be considered a follow-up to the memorandum of mutual understanding the three countries signed in July 2015. The aim of this plan is to build an economic corridor (jingji zoulang – 经济走廊) which will enhance the trade between these three countries, accelerate the economic development of the area involved and, at the same time, increase the competitive power on the international markets as allies. Mongolia only borders China and Russia and therefore has many contacts with these two countries. (China Development Agenda)
As Interest Grows in Great Walls, an Ancient Chinese Fortress Beckons
(NYT)


CENTRAL ASIA

Thanks Dad! Tajik President's Son Gets A New Job

Nepotism never went out of style in Central Asia. Analysts with spiderweb charts of familial connections among the well-heeled and powerful will need to update the title of the eldest son of Tajikistan’s president. The son of Emomali Rahmon, 29-year-old Rustam Emomali, was appointed mayor of Dushanbe by his father’s decree. (The Diplomat)


CENTRAL ASIA: SECURITY VS. MODERNIZATION

Security dominates the agenda in Central Asia. The region and its place in the world have always been viewed through the lens of security, given its proximity to various conflicts. Central Asia is also regarded as an outpost or a barrier that prevents instability and radicalism from spilling over from Afghanistan into neighboring countries. It is the security paradigm that shapes the foreign and domestic policies of Central Asian nations. There was, however, an attempt to reset the regional agenda when China came forward with its One Belt, One Road initiative. Even though it has yet to translate into specific projects, it has provided a different perspective on the region, emphasizing its potential in terms of transportation and logistics and its role as a hub for new transcontinental routes.(ValdaiClub)

Turkmenistan building Central Asia’s biggest mining enterprise (Trend)