Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

No Stops In Kyrgyzstan For China-Uzbekistan Railway Line
The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) railway project looks to be lurching forward again as China presses ahead with its One Belt, One Road trade-connectivity initiative. It will undoubtedly be a topic on September 6, when Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev visits Kyrgyzstan for talks with President Almazbek Atambaev. The rail line could be a boost for Kyrgyzstan's and Uzbekistan's trade with China. But President Atambaev has mentioned at least one problem he sees with the proposed railway -- it doesn't have stops in Kyrgyzstan. (Rferl)

 China's 'betrayal' - BRICS leaders slam Pakistan-based jihadi groups

"As long as China is backing us, we don't have to worry about the United States or the rest of the world." While the Islamic country's politicians and government officials refuted Trump's claims that Pakistan was supporting militant groups near its border with Afghanistan, they heaved a sigh of relief when Chinese officials came to their support against Trump. Therefore, it was quite natural for Islamabad to expect that the BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – would not criticize Pakistan-based militant groups during their recently held summit in the Chinese city of Xiamen. But after Trump's censure, Xi Jinping's China, too, expressed its worry about the jihadi groups that many experts say are Pakistan's proxies in the region. DW

Majlis Podcast: China's One Belt, One Road In Central Asia

This week's Majlis podcast looks at the effects of China's One Belt, One Road (OBOR) trade connectivity initiative on Central Asia.The topic was sparked by a recent report from The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS) -- A Road To Riches Or A Road To Ruin? The Geo-Economic Implications Of China's New Silk Road.Muhammad Tahir, RFE/RL's media-relations manager, moderated the discussion. (rferl)

Gazprom signals initial China gas pipeline volumesGazprom has signalled the initial volume it will supply to China when the new trans-Siberian gas pipeline comes online in 2020. The company would initially supply around 4.6bn cubic metres through the Power of Siberia pipeline in 2020, Reuters reported. (FT)

India army chief: we must prepare for simultaneous war with China and Pakistan

India’s army chief said on Wednesday the country should be prepared for a potential two-front war given China is flexing its muscles and there is little hope for reconciliation with Pakistan. General Bipin Rawat referred to a recent 10-week standoff with the Chinese armyin the Himalayas that ended last week. He said the situation could gradually snowball into a larger conflict on India’s northern border. Rawat said Pakistan on the western front could take advantage of such a situation.

China to set up 15 bln USD fund for joint projects with Russia
China is working for the establishment of an investment fund worth 100 billion yuan (15.3 billion U.S. dollars) to finance regional cooperation projects between China and Russia, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said here Thursday, 7 September. China is ready to increase the scale of the investment fund and suggest the Silk Road Fund finance China-Russia joint programs, Wang said in a speech at a commercial conversation on the sidelines of the Third Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, a major Pacific port city in Russia. (xinhua)

China, Pakistan agree to strengthen security cooperation

China and Pakistan agreed to strengthen anti-terrorism and security cooperation along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The agreement was reached when Meng Jianzhu, head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif and Pakistani National Security Adviser Nasser Khan Janjua Friday in Beijing.

No free AIIB pass for belt and road projects, bank executive says
The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will strictly scrutinise projects put to the lender even if they are part of Beijing’s ambitious “Belt and Road Initiative”, a senior bank executive said on Friday amid concerns about the bank’s loan book. He said the AIIB and the belt and road initiative overlapped but the two were very different, with the AIIB also financing many other projects not related to the strategy.(scmp)

As China Moves In, Serbia Reaps Benefits, With Strings Attached

(NYT)

China, Uzbekistan agree to strengthen cooperation
China and Uzbekistan have agreed to strengthen alignment of their development strategies and comprehensively deepen cooperation in various fields.The agreement was reached when Meng Jianzhu, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, met with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev here on Saturday. (Xinhua)

China increases subsidies for residents living close to India

China has substantially increased subsidies to the people living in the border areas along the India-China border in Tibet to motivate them to manage and control the border, a media report said today. The subsidy for each resident above 16 years old in first-tier border towns has been increased from 1,000 yuan ($155) in 2012 to 2,700 yuan ($ 415) in 2017, and from 800 yuan ($ 123) to 2,500 yuan in second-tier towns, state- run Global Times reported. In the past five years, the subsidies the government offered to the border residents has been rising, covering 160,000 people, Jiang Guojie, deputy head of the regional finance department, was quoted as saying by the newspaper. PTI

China: Free Xinjiang ‘Political Education’ Detainees

The Chinese government should immediately free people held in unlawful “political education” centers in Xinjiang and shut them down, Human Rights Watch said today. Since about April 2017, the authorities have forcibly detained thousands of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities at these centers, where they are subjected to propaganda promoting Chinese identity. (HRW)

Village 'too frightened to talk' after Kazakh man dies in Chinese police custody

An ethnic Kazakh man has died in police custody in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang after he went to a county police department to enquire about the whereabouts of two "disappeared" brothers, sources in the region told RFA on 8 September. Omirzakh Markhan, 36, died in the custody of Barköl Kazakh Autonomous County in Kumul prefecture on the Muslim feast-day of Eid al-Adha, a day of family reunions and feasting on slaughtered lambs and goats. He was detained on Sept. 1 when he went to enquire about his missing brothers' status, and later died in police custody. Kazakh sources in the area said Omirzakh Markhan was "beaten to death by police." RFA

More freight trains link China, Europe 

China's largest land border port, Manzhouli, has seen growth of China-Europe freight trains in the first eight months of this year. A total of 849 inbound and outbound trains connecting China and Europe passed through Manzhouli in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from January to August, while the number for all of 2016 was 846, according to port authorities. The port, which borders Russia to the north and sits close to Mongolia to the west, saw its first container train in September 2013, heading from east China's Suzhou to Poland. (xinhua)

Shinzo Abe’s India visit may see launch of Asia Africa Growth Corridor
India and Japan may initially invest $40 million in the Asia Africa Growth Corridor project seen as a counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (live mint)