Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

Government of Kyrgyzstan signs agreement on Smart City with Huawei company

The Government of Kyrgyzstan signed an investment agreement with the Chinese company Huawei on Smart City project.The total amount of investments, as it was previously reported, will be $ 60 million. Within the framework of the agreement, work on the preparation of design estimates, equipment supply, construction, integration, operation and maintenance of Smart City project will be carried out. It will be implemented in Bishkek and Osh cities and on the roads Bishkek-Osh and Bishkek-Cholpon-Ata, on Bishkek-Manas Airport road. (24kg)

Astana grapples with growing sinophobic sentiment in Kazakhstan

According to official sources, between 1991 and 2016, more than 952,000 ethnic Kazakhs living abroad returned to Kazakhstan. But Kazakhs from China comprise only 14.2 percent of that number, compared to 61.6 percent from Uzbekistan (Diapazon.kz, January 26, 2017). Many observers attribute the significantly low percentage of ethnic-Kazakh “returnees” (or “oralmans” in official parlance) to draconian foreign travel regulations imposed by Beijing on ethnic Kazakhs and other minorities (Ratel.kz, December 7, 2017). (The Times of Central Asia)

China-led bank spreads its yuan to Africa, South America to bankroll infrastructure projects

The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will be spreading its tentacles to South America, Africa and further into the Middle East soon, as it marks the start of its third year in business, its president says. (Scmp)

How India became China-led development bank’s main borrower
The AIIB, which celebrated it second anniversary this week, has approved funding for 24 infrastructure projects, five of them in India, bank data shows, with its loans to the Indian projects – totalling US$1.074 billion – accounting for almost 28 per cent of the money it has lent.“India and China may have disputes – a common scenario for big neighbouring countries – but business is business,” said Zhao Gancheng, director of South Asia studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies. (Scmp)

Xi Jinping’s Debt Clampdown Has Left a Trail of Dead Projects

A pile of rusty pipes and materials are all that remain of Lanzhou New Area’s tram project. Only a year ago it was a flagship public-private partnership for the planned city in Central China, before it fell victim to President Xi Jinping’s debt clampdown."The project is dead," said a guard at the office, who gave only his surname, Le. Nearby, the tram tracks are paved over, the mismatched lines of asphalt scarring a six-lane road that leads to a dead end on the edge of one of China’s most ambitious urban developments. (Bloomberg)

Does the rise of Eurasia herald a new world order? 

The fact that you can travel overland from Shanghai to Lisbon seemed irrelevant during the cold war. The Berlin Wall divided Europe. Mao’s China was isolated and inward-looking. But with the fall of the wall and the opening of China, these politically imposed barriers are coming down and the Eurasian landmass is once again emerging as a distinct entity, with great economic and strategic significance. In particular, China’s “Belt and Road” initiative is creating new infrastructure links that
highlight the commercial potential of linking Europe and Asia by land. FT

China Uses Facial Recognition to Fence In Villagers in Far West

China’s state surveillance apparatus is trying out a new tool in one of its favorite test beds, the restive region of Xinjiang.The Muslim-dominated villages on China’s western frontier are testing facial-recognition systems that alert authorities when targeted people venture more than 300 meters (1,000 feet) beyond designated “safe areas,” according to a person familiar with the project. The areas comprise individuals’ homes and workplaces, said the person, who requested anonymity to speak to the media without authorization. (Bloomberg)

Tales from The New Silk Road
Kazakhstan is a major partner in China’s multibillion-dollar NewSilkRoad project, but this new documentary by @RFERL shows that their mutual cooperation does not come without some challenges. (Csis)

CENTRAL ASIA

Kazakhstan: Nazarbayev Travels to US for Working Visit
Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev has begun a three-day trip to the United States that will take in meeting with President Donald Trump and a visit to the United Nations.Nazarbayev’s office has said that his encounter with Trump, which was scheduled to take place on January 16, will focus on the usual staples — economic cooperation, nuclear disarmament and security in Afghanistan. Presidential spokesman Aidos Ukibay told state news agency Kazinfrom that a number of deals, worth billions of dollars, are expected to be concluded during the trip, although no details were provided. (Eurasianet)

Trump Meets Kazakh Leader in White House Visit
President Donald Trump hosted Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the White House on Tuesday, praising the relationship between the two nations.The two leaders met in the Oval Office and delivered statements to reporters before holding a working lunch. The visit marks the first to the White House by a leader of Kazakhstan since 2006. (WSJ)

Who are considered extremist in Kazakhstan

In 2017, from Kazakhstan, there was little news about outbursts of extremist or terrorist activity. Data on the number of people who were charged and imprisoned for committing crimes "against the peace and security of mankind" (under this heading all "extremist" and "terrorist" charges are grouped in the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan), is not yet available. (Fergana News)

Uzbekistan: Security Service Personnel to be Removed from Embassies
The president of Uzbekistan has embarked on another sally against the powerful security services by demanding that all the body’s agents stationed in embassies abroad be recalled.President Shavkat Mirziyoyev declared his intent on this policy during a speech to foreign diplomats over the weekend. (Eurasianet)

PM for early completion of Pakistan-Turkmenistan energy projects
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday reiterated Pakistan’s interest in early completion of energy projects with Turkmenistan and appreciated the progress made on Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) project.The prime minister was talking to Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Mr Rashid Meredov, who paid a courtesy call on him here. (Business Recorder)

Repression in Kyrgyzstan is eroding Central Asia’s only democracy

TINY and turbulent, Kyrgyzstan likes to tout itself as a trailblazer for democracy in Central Asia, a region otherwise presided over by autocrats. The former Soviet republic of 6m has “proven to the world that it is a democratic country”, its new president, Sooronbay Jeyenbekov, trumpeted triumphantly as he was sworn into office in November. But the unusually competitive election that brought him to power may have been less an affirmation of democracy than its last gasp. (Economist)

Uzbekistan Opens Islamic Studies Academy
The opening of the academy, the first of its type, is seemingly more evidence of a growing embrace of religious values. (Eurasianet)

Turkmenistan declares 2018 as Silk Road year

Turkmenistan has declared 2018 as the Silk Road year and is seeking to establish an extensive transport infrastructure, according to Turkmenistan's ambassador to Turkey.Speaking at a news conference in capital Ankara, Isankuli Amanliyev said 2018 has been declared "Turkmenistan – the Heart of the Great Silk Road" year by the country's president Gurbanguli Berdimuhamedov. (Anadolu Agency)