Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

India, Pakistan Extend Reach of SCO to Half the World

After years of speculation about their accession, India and Pakistan have finally been admitted as full members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, broadening the geopolitical potential of the grouping, and partially watering down the dominance of Russia and China. The move could also help ease tension between the two South Asian rivals, some experts and officials suggest. Now, as fellow SCO members, India and Pakistan will be expected to participate in joint military exercises under the auspices of the organization’s Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS), which is based in Tashkent. (Eurasianet)

Majlis Podcast: How Significant Is The Shanghai Cooperation Organization?

The topic of this week's Majlis was the latest summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the Kazakh capital, Astana, on June 9.For the first time since 2001, new members were admitted to the SCO, with India and Pakistan joining China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.Several SCO officials, including host President Nursultan Nazarbaev, called it a "historic" day.Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "The expansion will undoubtedly help the SCO become a more powerful organization." He added that the addition of new members would also increase the SCO's "political, economic, and humanitarian influence."
(Rferl)

China says Iran membership of Shanghai security bloc to be discussed at summit
China supports Iran's membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) security bloc, jointly led by China and Russia, and the subject will be discussed at the group's summit this week, a senior diplomat said on Monday.The SCO refused to initiate Iran's accession last year despite a request from Russia which backs Tehran's bid, indicating possible divisions between Beijing and Moscow.Iran has long knocked at SCO's door and Russia has argued that with Western sanctions against Tehran lifted, it could finally become a member of the bloc which also includes four ex-Soviet Central Asian republics.Assistant Chinese Foreign Minister Li Huilai said Iran is an observer at the SCO and has for a long time "proactively participated" in its activities and has made positive contributions to the SCO's development. (Reuters)

Spotlight: Xi's Kazakhstan trip carries on "Silk Road Spirit," charts new chapter for cooperation

Xi proposed that the SCO draw up a five-year outline for implementation of the Treaty on Long-term Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation and formulate a three-year program of cooperation to fight the "three evil forces" of terrorism, extremism and separatism. (Xinhua)

The SCO Illusion Takes India
As India joins the SCO, it must keep in mind certain geopolitical realities (Diplomat)


Silk Road hub or tax haven? China's new border trade zone may be less than it seems

On the border of China and Kazakhstan, an international free trade zone has become a showpiece of Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature "Belt and Road" Initiative to boost global trade and commerce by improving infrastructure and connectivity. Chinese state media are filled with stories about the stunning success of Horgos, the youngest city of China's new Silk Road. Last month at China's Belt and Road Summit - its biggest diplomatic event of the year - promotional videos about Horgos' booming economy ran on a loop at the press centre But Chinese business owners and prospective investors who had recently visited the China-Kazakhstan Horgos International Border Cooperation Center (ICBC), told Reuters they were disappointed by the disconnect between the hype and reality. (Reuters)

Russian warships visit Hong Kong for the first time to boost presence in region

The main objectives of the visit are to develop naval cooperation with the People’s Republic of China, including Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, says Russian commander (Scmp)ù


Russia-China talks over new gas routes stalled – sources

Talks over new routes for gas supplies to China from Russia have stalled while Beijing rethinks the balance of its energy needs, including how much liquefied natural gas (LNG) it might use, two Russian sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Gazprom, which is already building a gas pipeline from Eastern Siberia to China - the Power of Siberia - was in talks over two more routes: the so-called western gas route and a gas pipeline from the Pacific Island of Sakhalin. (Reuters)

Russia and China Plan 'Enormous' Military Events and Cooperation After Successful South China Sea Drill

Russia and China are planning “enormous” and “important” joint military events in their future, after a meeting in which the countries agreed a military “roadmap” until 2020. The superpowers completed a mass naval drill in the disputed South China Sea in September.“It is important that Russia and China are ready to defend the world with mutual efforts and strengthen international security,” Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told the Interfax news agency at a meeting with his Chinese counterpart in Kazakhstan. (Newsweek)

Why Qatar’s links to Islamist groups worry Beijing
With China facing its own fight against extremism, Doha’s backing of a host of radical organisations is a source of unspoken concern for China’s leadership (Scmp)

U.S. says China likely to build more overseas bases, maybe in Pakistan
A Pentagon report released on 6 June singled out Pakistan as a possible location for a future Chinese military base, as it forecast that Beijing would likely build more bases overseas after establishing a facility in the African nation of Djibouti. The prediction came in a 97-page annual report to Congress that saw advances throughout the Chinese military in 2016, funded by robust defence spending that the Pentagon estimated exceeded $180 billion. Reuters SCMP (Image: Reuters)

Highlights of Xi Jinping’s upcoming visit to Kazakhstan

(People's Daily)

China, Kazakhstan eye stronger cross-border, security cooperation

China and Kazakhstan vowed Thursday to enhance cross-border connectivity and boost cooperation in security and international affairs as Chinese President Xi Jinping is paying a state visit to the Central Asian country.Consolidating the bilateral relationship is a diplomatic priority for both countries and that the alignment of the development strategies, namely the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Kazakhstan's "Nurly Zhol," or "Bright Path" in the Kazakh language, has far-reaching significance, said a joint statement released after Xi and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev held talks.The two countries agreed to develop more international cargo train services, starting from China via Kazakhstan to Central Asia, Europe and Gulf countries and to effectively lower the logistics cost, making railway freight a major solution for cargo transportation between Asia and Europe by 2025, it said. (Xinhua)

China, Kazakhstan sign cooperation deals worth over $8 billion
Chinese and Kazakh enterprises and financial institutions have signed at least 24 deals worth more than $8 billion during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Kazakhstan, Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said on Friday. Both sides agreed to push for the progress in cooperation in energy, mining, chemical industry, mechanical manufacturing, agriculture and infrastructure, said Zhong, Xinhua reported. (Economic Times)

China's CITIC Bank approves deal for stake in Kazakh lender
China's CITIC Bank Corp Ltd (601998.SS) said late on Wednesday its board had approved a deal to buy a 60 percent stake in Kazakhstan's Altyn Bank, a subsidiary of Halyk Bank HSBK.KZ(HSBKq.L), the country's No.2 lender by assets. Halyk Bank said in November it had reached an agreement to sell a controlling stake in its subsidiary to CITIC Bank, without giving any financial details. (Reuters)

Chinese city with Russian past struggles to preserve its legacy
Harbin was a Russian outpost and a base for the Chinese Eastern Railway. But the city’s distinct styles are threatened by urban redevelopment. (NYT)
China Rail Freight Sees Booming 2017 After Five Years of Contractions
(Caixin)

Inner Mongolia has become China’s model of assimilation

The Chinese government has long struggled to bring the country’s borderlands under control. It took a decade for the Communist Party to subdue Yunnan in the southwest and Tibet after it came to power in 1949. In Tibet and in the far western province of Xinjiang ethnic tensions still sometimes flare into violence; both have separatist movements that have been brutally suppressed. Ethnic relations have not always been easy in Inner Mongolia either: Mongolians frequently clashed with the authorities until the early 1990s.In recent decades, however, the province has been largely quiescent. It does not have a separatist movement—a surprise given that Mongolia, an independent, democratic country populated by 3m people of the same ethnicity, lies just to the north. Local gripes are more often expressed in economic terms than in ethnic ones. (Economist)

CENTRAL ASIA

Uzbekistan: Deputy PM Sidelined in Power Grab

Uzbekistan’s deputy prime minister and a one-time presidential contender has reportedly stepped down in a development that suggests the president is bolstering his power.Gazeta.uz reported on June 6 that Rustam Azimov will leave the government, where he oversaw macroeconomic developments and reforms, to take over Uzbekinvest, a state company that ostensibly deals in insuring foreign investments in Uzbekistan.The extent of the demotion is a transparent gesture intended to humiliate Azimov and was, by and large, to be expected.

The Praise Problem: Uzbekistan Bans Soppy Paeans To Presidents
Dedicating flattering songs, books, and movies to sitting presidents is generally the rule in post-Soviet Central Asia, where regimes have gone to great lengths to establish cults of presidential personality.Uzbekistan wants us to believe it has become an exception. Authorities there have announced a ban on such paeans and warned that singing the praises of a sitting head of state could cost singers and songwriters their licenses to perform.The announcement followed a June 2 meeting of Uzbekkonsert, a state body that oversees the Uzbek entertainment industry. (RFERL)