Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

The Silk Road Economic Belt: Considering security implications and EU–China cooperation prospects
This one-year desk and field study has examined the Belt from a security perspective. The report has three components: (a) it has analysed what the Belt essentially is, what has driven China to initiate it, and how it relates to China’s own security interests; (b) it assesses what the Belt’s security implications are and might be in two selected regions of the Eurasian continent (in this report ‘Eurasia’ refers to the combined landmass of Europe and Asia), namely Central and South Asia; and (c) based on the sum of these findings, this study elaborates on whether the Belt is a platform for European Union (EU)–China cooperation on mitigating security threats throughout Eurasia, and provides policy recommendations to the EU on how to proceed. In the context of the report, ‘security’ is defined broadly in relation to intra- and interstate stability: it encompasses human security and developmental conditions. (Sipri)

Absorb and conquer: An EU approach to Russian and Chinese integration in Eurasia

Europe shouldn’t be afraid of Russian and Chinese efforts to integrate the Eurasian landmass, but should embrace these initiatives and absorb them into its international order, making use of its huge market, soft power, and long experience of regional integration. “The prospect of China and Russia failing to integrate the vast Eurasian continent should not make Europe feel better about the region or about itself. European cooperation with both the Russian and Chinese projects is necessary for progress in Eurasia, and, if properly structured, can promote European interests.” (Ecfr)

Absurd? China And Kazakhstan's Remote Cross-Border FTZ May Finally Be Set To Boom
The first time I visited the International Center for Boundary Cooperation “Khorgos” (ICBC) was in May of 2015. At that time, I found a bi-national free trade zone straddling the China / Kazakhstan border that was basically a Chinese “cheap stuff” market flung out on the Eurasian steppes that was mired in a stagnant position between conception and vitalization.Nearly two years after this first visit, I returned to the ICBC, and I must report that even after a string of political, financial, and corruption mishaps, nobody has given up on the place.
(Forbes)

China-Europe land-sea fast transport route now open, first two trains carrying Chinese cargo arrived in Budapest Tue 

The first two trains carrying Chinese cargo containers, launched by China COSCOShipping Group, arrived in the Hungarian capital, the Economic and CommercialCounselor's Office of the Chinese Embassy in Hungary said Tuesday. The shipments arrived in Budapest on Jan. 29 and Feb. 5, respectively, from the port ofPiraeus, Greece, marking the official opening of the China-Europe land-sea fastintermodal transport route. This took place after the acquisition of the Piraeus port by COSCO Group. (People's Daily)

Pakistan receives funding of $20M from China for rapid transit project that will use Chinese standards & technology
China's largest commercial bank announced on Tuesday it provided short-term financing of 1.36 billion Indian rupees ($20 million) for a rapid transit line project in Pakistan last month.
The 26-kilometer Orange Line project currently under construction in Lahore, the second largest city and a major industrial hub of Pakistan, is being built according to Chinese standards and will use metro vehicles and electromechanical systems made in China. It is the first large rail transit project launched under the bilateral economic corridor between China and Pakistan as part of the Belt and Road Initiative, (Peopl'es Daily)

One Belt, One Road and Many Countries

After the collapse of the Soviet Union the newly independent countries of the Central Asian region for the first time in their modern history looked beyond the iron curtain with which they were isolated from the world within the Soviet era. They quickly remembered that in ancient times they were an important part of what today can be called a global system of communication and trade – the Great Silk Road, which connected China to Europe through the Eurasian continent. Central Asian countries desperately needed to break their newly land-locked status. Forming a trade path from East to West was part of their unique selling point. However, such a position is not merely their geographical destiny. It is also a geopolitical condition due to the fact that unlocking the region depends largely on neighboring great powers – namely China and Russia. But interestingly, the opening and unlocking of Central Asia appears to be a more complicated and protracted process than expected, in which the ‘Modern Silk Road’ needs to balance multiple national interests. (China in Central Asia)

Here Are 5 Ways China's New Silk Road Is Good For Western Companies
Which begs the question: Is it realistic for U.S. and other Western firms to expect good business opportunities within the OBOR? This question becomes even more compelling as the public dialogue between the U.S. and China grows increasingly hostile and confrontational. (Forbes)

Why Eurasia will suffer if Donald Trump makes an enemy of China

Raffaello Pantucci says the US president’s hostile stance not only puts at risk overall ties with Beijing, but could also deprive Eurasia of the cooperation it needs to advance, and a counterweight to China’s potentially overbearing sway. (Scmp) 

Putin to attend China summits on ‘One Belt’ and BRICS

Participation of Russian president in the two highest-profile events Beijing is hosting this year could herald closer ties between the neighbours (Scmp)

Economy of NW China's Xinjiang grows 7.6% in 2016, 0.9 percentage points above the national growth rate

The economy of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region grew 7.6 percent year on year in 2016, 0.9 percentage points above the national growth rate, the local statistics bureau announced Monday.The region's GDP reached 961.7 billion yuan (139.8 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016 with continued expansion of the tertiary sector, which made up 57 percent of the region's gross domestic product in the first three quarters.(Xinhua)

Beijing’s new scorched-earth policy against the Uighurs

Under the pretext of joining the global war on terrorism, the Xi Jinping administration has imposed unprecedentedly harsh restrictions on the civil liberties and rights of the 10 million Uighurs living in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The shift in President Xi’s Xinjiang policy was marked by the replacement of the region’s Party Secretary Zhang Chunxian (张春贤)—a moderate cadre noted for his “soft and flexible methods in running Xinjiang”— with Chen Quanguo (陈全国) (Dwnews.com [Beijing], Aug. 29, 2016; Ming Pao [Hong Kong], Aug. 28, 2016). The persistence of violence in the XUAR, however, has called into doubt whether Beijing’s draconian tactics will work towards the goal of changzhi jiu’an (长治久安; “perennial order and stability”). (TheNewsLens)

Uighur minority fighting in Syria says exiled leader

An exiled advocate for China's ethnic Uighur minority said Monday that some of the group were fighting and dying in Syria -- including for Islamic State (IS) -- though she claimed they had been duped into doing so. Rebiya Kadeer, who heads the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), said that among the thousands of Uighurs who have fled to Southeast Asia, Turkey and elsewhere in recent years, a small number have ended up in the war-torn Middle Eastern country and have joined militant groups. (Middle East Online)

CENTRAL ASIA

Turkmen President Extends Rule In Tightly Controlled Vote
Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, the authoritarian president of gas-rich Turkmenistan, has secured a third term in office by winning 97.69 percent of the vote in the February 12 election, according to the Central Election Commission. The election commission announced the result on February 13, a day after an election whose outcome seemed certain in advance because of Berdymukhammedov's domination of the Central Asian country and the tightly controlled campaign. (Rferl)