Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

A New China Military Base in Pakistan?
Reports about Beijing trying to acquire another facility there could have significant consequences for the region. A recent report about China trying to acquire a military base in Pakistan has created new concerns about Beijing’s long-term strategic plans in the Indian Ocean. The new base is supposed to go up in Jiwani, about 80 kilometers to the west of the better-known Gwadar port.If China does establish a military base here, it will be its second foreign military base, after Djibouti, which was set
up in August 2017. (The Diplomat)

FDI into western China soars in January
Foreign direct investment into western China, a key region in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, rose by 56.4% in the same period, the official data showed. (Asia Times)

NEPAL LEADER VOWS TO REVIVE CHINESE DAM PROJECT, OPEN TO REVIEW PACT OVER NEPALESE SOLDIERS IN INDIA
Nepal’s new communist prime minister will restart a Chinese-led US$2.5 billion hydropower project that was pulled by the previous government considered friendly towards India, and wants to increase infrastructure connectivity with Beijing to ease the country’s reliance on New Delhi. (scmp)

China woos Pakistan militants to secure Belt and Road projects
China has been quietly holding talks with Pakistani tribal separatists for more than five years in an effort to protect the $60bn worth of infrastructure projects it is financing as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. (FT)

China Denies Contacts with Separatist Militants in Pakistan
Chinese officials have denied reports that they are in contact with separatist militants in Pakistan’s restive Baluchistan province to secure tens of billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure projects planned for the area. (VOA)

BATTLEGROUND MALAYSIA: CHINA EXTENDS CRACKDOWN ON UYGURS ACROSS BORDERS
Beijing’s request for 11 Uygurs to be extradited from Malaysia comes as it imposes one of the world’s most intrusive surveillance systems in Xinjiang, a security approach it seeks to export to Belt and Road countries (Scmp)

Caucasus Trans-Caspian trade route to open China import markets
The ‘Middle Corridor’ of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) is expanding. At a meeting in Ankara on 16 February it was agreed that Turkish State Railways would join the TITR as a full member. Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia established the TITR in 2013 as a coordinating committee between their national railways. In April 2017 they signed the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route Protocol, underpinning the international legal framework for the TITR. (East AsiaForum)

CENTRAL ASIA 

Uzbekistan to restore railroad leading to Tajikistan
Uzbekistan began restoring railroad leading to Tajikistan, local media report. The railways leading to Khatlon province of Tajikistan were dismantled a decade and a half ago.According to Tajik news agencies, restoration works will be finished soon and trains will begin to run before March 10.
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s state visit to Tajikistan is planned for that time. The passenger railway routes are planned to be launched between two countries.The media reports said earlier that Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are discussing the possibility of opening railway routes through Uzbekistan to Russia: Dushanbe - Pakhtaabad - Boysun - Karshi - Tosguzar railroad bypassing Turkmenistan. (Akipress)

Uzbekistan Unblocks Banned Website
From around lunchtime on February 12, internet users in Uzbekistan have been reporting being able to visit websites that have for many years been blocked.Among the news websites once again made available were those of the BBC, Voice of America,

Moscow-baed Ferghana news agency and Eurasianet. The websites for Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have also been unblocked. Perhaps most remarkably, the website run by the foreign-based People’s Movement of Uzbekistan opposition group, uzxalqharakati.com, can also now be viewed inside the country without a proxy. (eurasianet)

Uzbek Singers Are Told: No Tattoos, No Earrings, And No Singing In Bedrooms In Videos

Uzbek singers can no longer sport a tattoo, show off expensive cars, or sing in a bedroom in music videos -- all part of new rules unveiled by government officials this week. Male singers shouldn’t dress like women or wear garish jewelry, according to a directive published on the website of Uzbekkonsert, a state body that regulates the Central Asian country's music industry. (rferl)

Once-repressive Uzbekistan begins a post-Karimov opening

In Uzbekistan’s ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand, near the blue-domed madrassas of central Registan Square, young Uzbeks still jostle for selfies by the statue of a local boy made good, the late dictator Islam Karimov. But, 17 months after Karimov’s death, there are signs that a country that democracy watchdog Freedom House long ranked alongside North Korea on political rights and civil liberties is starting to loosen the screws. (Financial Times)

President Says Time's Up For 'Mad Dog' Uzbek Security Service
President Shavkat Mirziyoev in his second year in office has made no bones about criticizing one of the pillars of his long-serving predecessor's strong-armed rule, accusing the SNB of committing atrocities, targeting innocent people, and "exceeding its authority."During a meeting with local activists in Bukhara Province on February 16, Mirziyoev continued his recent criticism of the SNB -- used by former President Islam Karimov to maintain tight control over the country's people and politics. (Rferl)

Kyrgyzstan: Alleged Coup Plotters on Hunger Strike
The trio have warned they will step up their protest if there is no reaction from the security services or parliament. (Eurasianet)

Flour Power: Turkmenistan Mulling 'Surplus Confiscation' Amid Shortage

It seems that desperate times call for desperate measures in northern Turkmenistan, where authorities are reported to be considering the confiscation of "surplus" flour from people amid severe shortages of the staple. (Rferl)

Tajikistan Debt Crosses a Red Line
External debt reached $2.9 billion at the start of 2018, crossing the psychologically important 40 percent debt-to-gross domestic product ratio mark. (Eurasianet)

India gets control of Iranian port
India and Iran on Saturday signed agreements, including Tehran leasing to New Delhi operational control of part of the Iranian east coast port of Chabahar for 18 months. The $85 million project, just 90km from Gwadar port, creates a transit route between India, Iran and Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan. (Dawn)

Kazakhstan Plans to Extend 'Electronic' Jurisdiction of its National Security Committee

According to a draft law introduced to Kazakhstan’s Parliament for discussion by March 05, the powers of the State Security Committee in Kazakhstan (KNB) would be expanded when new functions in the field of information and network security. (fergananews)ù

TAPI Gas Pipeline Sets To Enter Afghanistan, Groundbreaking On Friday
Turkmenistan has completed construction of gas pipeline in its section under TAPI project, following which a groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled to be performed at the Turkmen border city of Serhetabat on Friday to take the pipeline to Afghanistan. (UrduPoint)