Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

The Twists and Turns along China’s Belt and Road

China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative could potentially transform relations with over 60 countries across Eurasia, Africa and beyond. But to bring the concept to fruition, Beijing must overcome mammoth logistical obstacles, navigate fragile political situations and placate growing regional apprehension surrounding its ambitions (Crisis Group)

CEFC's Rosneft deal driven by national strategy: chairman
CEFC China Energy’s $9.1 billion purchase of a stake in Russia’s Rosneft Oil ROSM.NN was mainly driven by China’s Belt and Road Initiative and has strong support from the government, Ye Jianming, the company’s founder said.Ye posted his thoughts on Monday in a message to CEFC employees on the company’s Wechat account to explain how the privately-owned company secured the deal with Rosneft instead of China’s state-owned oil majors. Wechat is China’s largest social media application mainly used as a messaging tool. (Reuters)

Mapping the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a flagship project under China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Announced in 2015, CPEC has expanded to include as much as $62 billion of investments. In Pakistan, there have been a range of reactions. CPEC advocates have characterized it as a “game-changer." Others have warned that it is a new form of Chinese “imperialism."This analysis attempts to evaluate CPEC’s road infrastructure. It uses mapping tools and LandScan data from 2006 to layout the number of people within a certain radius of the roads. Specifically, it measures connectivity at three levels. (reconnectingasia.csis)

Kazakhstan to export 5 billion cubic metres of gas to China

China recently agreed to a deal with KazTransGas to import 5 billion cubic metres of Kazakh natural gas during one calendar year, according to KazTransGas press service. (astanatimes)

Chinese cargo ship arrives in Russia's St. Petersburg, completing month-long journey on sea route via Arctic Ocean (xinhua)

New international passenger train has been launched between China's Urumqi and Kazakhstan's Almaty, shortening the journey by seven hours (Xinhua)

Xinjiang raises over 600 mln USD for poverty-relief relocation in 2017

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region raised 4.17 billion yuan (about 627 million U.S. dollars) in 2017 in relocation funds as part of its poverty reduction drive.The money, up from the previous year's 1.3 billion yuan, will go toward housing for 83,900 people who will be relocated from poverty-hit regions to more developed areas. (People's Daily)

Kazakhstan Revokes Hundreds of 'Green Cards' Issued to Ethnic Kazakhs From China 

Authorities in Kazakhstan have declared the 'green card' residence permits of some 250 Chinese nationals of Kazakh descent invalid following an investigation of the officials who issued them, prompting fears of repatriation and detention, sources in the emigre community told RFA on Thursday. The move follows the detention in July of the immigration director of Kazakhstan's Jambul region for accepting "additional fees" in relation to green cards. (RFA)

Why Chinese investors are struggling to gain a foothold in Tajikistan
Central Asian country is one of first stops on ‘Belt and Road’, but legal difficulties, murky politics and security concerns pose obstacles to business.

CENTRAL ASIA

Opium for the President: Religion and Kyrgyzstan’s forthcoming elections
Religion has traditionally been a delicate topic for Kyrgyzstan. Even though the overwhelming majority of the Republic’s population identifies as Muslim, no presidential candidate has been in any hurry to touch upon the topic of religion in their election manifestos. Is the political elite ignoring the burning questions and challenges posed by the rise of religious extremism in Central Asia today? (Fergana news)

Closer Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan Ties Not Enough to Resolve Broader Regional Woes

The president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, paid an official visit to Uzbekistan in mid-September, highlighting improving relations between Central Asia’s two largest states. There, he met with his Uzbekistani counterpart, Shavkat Mirziyaev, for the sixth time since the latter took office last December, following the death two months earlier of the incumbent (since 1990) Islam Karimov. Mirziyaev had previously chosen Kazakhstan as a second stop on his first foreign tour as head of state, visiting the country in late March, right after Turkmenistan but before going to either Russia or China (Mir24.tv, Tengrinews.kz, September 16; Sputniknews.kz, March 23). (jamestown foundation)

The Rising Risks of Misrule in Tajikistan

Tajikistan’s 25 years as an independent state have been marred by poverty, endemic state corruption and the steady narrowing of political power to a single family. Its patriarch is President Emomali Rahmon, 64, who has ruled the country since 1992 through a carefully calibrated system of patronage and brutality. With Rahmon’s current seven-year term set to end in 2020, many observers believe he is now planning to hand over power to a close family member, probably his eldest son, Rustam, 29. (crisisgroup)