Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

60 Xinjiang officials reprimanded for anti-terror negligence

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region's top disciplinary inspector criticized over 60 local officials for negligence on anti-terror work after conducting a clandestine one-week inspection in the region. The regional discipline inspection commission announced on its website on 28 May it praised 5 units and 4 officials for excellent anti-terror work while criticizing 60 officials and relevant personnel for 375 problems and negligence issues during the inspection from 10 May to 16 May. (GlobalTimes)

China created a new terrorist threat by repressing secessionist fervor in its western frontier

Until recently, Turkey’s suspicions that Uyghurs would terrorize Istanbul would make no sense. For years, China has treated Uyghurs like terrorists even though they could have cared less about jihad. But in the past few years, China has wielded its growing regional power to bring its neighbors in line with Beijing’s anti-Uyghur policies. Even Turkey appears to now be under the sway of Asia’s economic powerhouse. Facing repression at home, and with nowhere left to go, some of those Uyghurs have been forced into dangerous new alliances with organizations like ISIS. After decades of crying wolf, China may very well have created the conditions that allowed terrorism to take root in its own soil.(Quartz)

1200 cargo trains from China to Europe, Asia cross Alashankou border port in 2016, total number hits 3000 since 2011. The inland port of Alashankou in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region saw a record number of cargo trains in 2016. The number of outbound China-Europe and China-Asia cargo trains crossing the border port hit 1,200 in 2016, bringing the total cargo trains to 3,000 by May since the first one via Alashankou was launched in 2011. In the first four months of 2017, the number of inbound international cargo trains via Alashankou reached 162, carrying more than 43,000 tonnes of goods worth 3 billion yuan (440 million U.S. dollars), according to Alashankou Customs. (Xinhua)

Beijing-Xinjiang expressway to open to traffic

The Beijing-Xinjiang expressway (G7), which links Beijing and Urumqi of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, is expected to open to traffic by June 30.The new expressway has a length of 2,582 kilometers and crosses Inner Mongolia autonomous region. After put into use, the expressway will shorten the existing route by 1,300 km.It will become the fastest and most convenient access to the sea for the northwestern inland region, connecting Xinjiang Khorgas Port and Tianjin Port in the east. It is designed to be an important component of the New Asian-European Land Bridge. (China Daily)

China's M&A activities grow fast in B&R region: report

The energy, power and raw material sectors are major industries attracting China's M&A investment, while Kazakhstan, Russia, Israel, Singapore and Egypt are the top five destinations in terms of transaction volume.China's M&A transaction volume in the Silk Road Economic Belt outweighs that in the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, while the latter has more M&A cases, the report showed.

Age of Empires: What Qin and Han Dynasty Treasures Tell About Artistic Influences Along Silk Road

The recent abundance of Han Dynasty exhibitions springs in part from spectacular late 20th and early 21st century archaeological discoveries of Han tombs, many unearthed during the construction of expressways. These tombs have provided an unparalleled window into the lives and belief systems of the Han elite – and even brought to light the world’s oldest egg, tea, and wine. But these discoveries have also proven to be the right tombs for the times; modern day political realities are an important contributor to the current Han vogue, among them the desire to connect the Belt and Road Initiative to the Silk Road and the current era to the Han Dynasty. (Caixin)

Kazakhstan to produce nuclear fuel for China

The first stage of the joint venture will produce about 200 tonnes of nuclear fuel a year using technologies and equipment supplied by France’s ArevaKazakhstan, the world’s biggest uranium producer, will start producing nuclear fuel for Chinese power plants in 2019 through a joint venture set up by the two countries, a senior official at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant told Reuters.The joint venture, Ulba-FA, is now building on land at the Ulba plant, Kazakhstan’s main uranium processing
factory. (Reuters)

Fosun buys stake in Russia's top gold miner for $887 mln
A consortium of investors led by China's Fosun International Ltd will buy a 10 percent stake in Russia's top gold producer Polyus for $887 million, they said on Wednesday.

Bank sets US$36.6 billion aside to support Obor projects
The China Development Bank will set aside 250 billion yuan (US$36.6 billion) over three years to attract private capital in public-private-partnership deals to support one belt, one road (Obor) projects, Xinhua reported on June 1. (Xinhua)

China’s New Silk Road Targets Central Europe

The people of Varnsdorf, a small Czech town of some 15,000 residents two hours’ drive north of Prague, were puzzled when their mayor proposed to attend a conference nearly 5,500 miles away in the Chinese province of Guangdong. The conference, scheduled for later this month, aims to provide attendees with “up-to-date information on Chinese and foreign markets,” according to its website.
(WSJ)

Central Asia Ready to Follow China’s Lead despite Russian Ties

The Chinese government-owned media was careful to stress the high level of interest toward the BRI by noting the presence of the heads of the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a handful of presidents and prime ministers from the European Union, and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. The latter spoke alongside his fellow heads of state of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, who collectively represented Central Asia (Gazeta.ru, Akorda.kz, May 15; Gazeta.uz, Tazabek.kg, May 14). Interestingly, the media coverage of the Beijing summit in the Central Asian region was unanimously positive; whereas in previous years China usually received both praise and criticism. (Jamestown Foundation)

CENTRAL ASIA

Russia Holds Military Exercises in Tajikistan -- But Why Not With CSTO?

Russia and several of its allies, including Armenia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, are conducting joint military exercises this week in Tajikistan. These sorts of exercises have become routine in recent years, but there is an intriguing difference this time.These exercises are typically held under the aegis of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which has been the primary focus of Russia's efforts to build military alliances in the post-Soviet space. But this exercise is instead being held under a different body: the Commonwealth of Independent States Anti-Terrorism Center. (Eurasianet)

Iran Courts Tajikistan

Over the years, many Tajiks have become cognizant that they are increasingly an important piece of the Persian cultural sphere, rather than in the superimposed Russian one that they are so often cast into. Relations between Tajikistan and Iran have seldom received much attention, usually because of the latter’s front-page interactions with the larger, more influential states in the Middle East. Nevertheless, Iran’s relations with the former Soviet republics in Central Asia will be likely to garner significant attention in the coming years, as Tehran seeks to act upon its hegemonic ambitions in the area. (Diplomat)

Uzbekistan: Mr. Mirziyoyev Going to Washington

The leader of Uzbekistan’s next major official foreign visit will reportedly be to the United States.
Uznews.uz cited a press officer for President Shavkat Mirziyoyev as saying the trip is planned for September.Watchers of the region will know that Mirziyoyev and US President Donald Trump have already met, on May 21, during the Riyadh Summit, which brought together leaders of dozens of Arab and mainly Muslim nations. By the accounting of Uzbek media, Trump was positively impressed. (Eurasianet)

Kazakhstan Is Preparing to Effectively Ban Political Opposition
Political opposition never got much of a look in in authoritarian Kazakhstan, where the same man has been in power for over a quarter of a century, but a draft law being considered by the country's rubber stamp parliament is set to make matters even more predictable.The legislature is presently working on a bill that would ban independent candidates from running for the presidency. The bill approved by the majilis (lower chamber of the parliament) on May 24 is designed to eliminate “non-serious candidates”, according to Justice Minister Marat Beketaev (Global Voices)