Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

EU ambassadors band together against Silk RoadTwenty-seven of the 28 national EU ambassadors to Beijing have compiled a report that sharply criticizes China’s “Silk Road” project, denouncing it as designed to hamper free trade and put Chinese companies at an advantage.The report, seen by Handelsblatt, said the plan, unveiled in 2013, “runs counter to the EU agenda for liberalizing trade and pushes the balance of power in favor of subsidized Chinese companies.” (handelsblatt)

EU presents (nearly) united front against China’s ‘unfair’ Belt and Road Initiative
The document’s existence were first reported by German business newspaper Handelsblatt, but sources close to the EU confirmed its existence. (Scmp)

EU reiterates its position on B&R after ambassadors reportedly denounced initiative
The EU supports cooperation with China on the Belt and Road (B&R) initiative on the basis of China fulfilling its aim of making it an open platform that adheres to market rules, the head of press and information of the Delegation of the European Union to China told the Global Times on 18 April. The reassuring comments were made after German newspaper Handelsblatt reported on 17 April that 27 of the 28 EU ambassadors to China had allegedly compiled a report that sharply criticizes the China-proposed B&R initiative and denounces it as "designed to hamper free trade and put Chinese companies at an advantage." (Global Times)

State-owned Citic takes over troubled tycoon Ye Jianming’s investments in Czech Republic 

Citic Group, China’s biggest state conglomerate and the original “Red Capitalist”, is stepping in to prop up businesses and investments in the Czech Republic owned by troubled oligarch Ye Jianming’s CEFC, according to state news agency Xinhua on Friday. (scmp)

Belt and road’s real aims? Expanding China’s global influence and military presence, US study says
China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” – a massive infrastructure programme that Beijing says is aimed at promoting global trade and economic growth – is actually intended to expand the country’s political influence and military presence, according to a report issued on Tuesday. (Scmp)

Pakistan shuns US for Chinese high-tech weapons
In a sign of the shifting balance of power, Islamabad now purchases much of its advanced military equipment from Beijing. (FT)

Arms sales to Pakistan support nation’s military sovereignty without conditions

There is no military alliance between China and Pakistan, but China's arms exports to Pakistan are a powerful weapon to safeguard the South Asian country's military sovereignty. Pakistan has been shunning the US in favor of Chinese high-technology weapons, the Financial Times reported earlier this week. Since 2010, US arms exports to Pakistan plummeted from $1 billion to just $21 million last year, according to the report, while China has become Pakistan's most consistent supplier of military hardware. (Global Times)


China Defends Pakistan Over Modi Terror Charge
China's foreign ministry defended Pakistan after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi assailed the country as a "terror export factory." The ministry also said terrorism will be discussed during next week's meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, where envoys from Pakistan and India will both be present (Hindustan Times).

China wants corridor to link with India and Nepal
China hopes to comprehensively increase its connectivity with Nepal, which would facilitate the construction of an economic corridor connecting China, Nepal and India, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Beijing on Wednesday. Wang spoke at a news conference after meeting with Nepalese Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali. “As a long-term vision, we hope to build a multidimensional passage between China and Nepal covering ports, railways, roads, aviation, electricity and communication,” Wang said. Gyawali is in China for a five-day visit starting on Tuesday. He is visiting less than two weeks after Nepalese Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli visited India. (China Daily)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit China for one-on-one summit with Xi Jinping
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to central China this week for an informal summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a meeting analysts say could help the two Asian giants reset ties. (scmp)

The Waning History of Russians in Xinjiang
Cultural and ethnic fusion takes place along the borders between nations. In northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, these boundaries are blurrier than in most other parts of the world: Where China meets Russia and the Central Asian nations, a wide variety of peoples have intermingled for centuries. (Sixth Tone)

Russia's Lukoil starts up Uzbekistan gas plant for Chinese exports
Uzbekistan (Reuters) - Russia’s No. 2 oil producer Lukoil has started operations at a $3.4 billion gas processing plant at its Kandym gasfield in Uzbekistan, which is seen as central to its efforts to boost gas production and exports to China. (Reuters)

CENTRAL ASIA

Kyrgyz President Fires Government Following No-Confidence Vote

Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov has dismissed the government, hours after lawmakers passed a no-confidence motion against the cabinet of Prime Minister Sapar Isakov, amid an apparent power struggle between Jeenbekov and his predecessor, Almazbek Atambaev. (rferl)

Kyrgyzstan appoints new PM
Kyrgyzstan's parliament approved Mukhammedkaliy Abylgaziyev, from the majority Social Democrats party, as the country's new PM on Friday, the day after the government lost a vote of no confidence. He had been the head of the Presidential Administration. (Reuters)

Majlis Podcast: What Is Happening In Kyrgyzstan?

The latest Majlis podcast looks at new Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov’s removal of a series of officials left over from his predecessor’s administration.Is there a showdown coming? Has it already started? What can former President Almazbek Atambaev do now? Or is it already too late, in more ways than one, for him? (rferl)

Uzbekistan’s Pivotal Role in Central Asia

Uzbekistan plays a pivotal role in regional affairs, and it is able to do so because of its geography – and its geographic position. It is the only Central Asian state that borders every other. Like Kazakhstan, it is rich with oil and natural gas, the revenue from which has enabled it to have at least the semblance of self-determination. It is the second-largest Central Asian state by area and the largest by population. (Geopolitica Futures)