Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

China is ‘building a training camp in Afghanistan’ to fight terrorism
China has started building a training camp for Afghan troops in a narrow corridor that connects the two countries – a project Beijing is fully funding to help its neighbour boost counterterrorism efforts, sources close to the military said. (scmp)

Why the Muslim world isn't saying anything about China’s repression and 'cultural cleansing' of its downtrodden Muslim minority
Muslim countries have been silent over China's crackdown on its Uighurs, a Muslim-majority ethnic minority in the country's west. (businessinsider)

Imran Khan expected to stick with Chinese investment projects after Pakistan election victory

Khan’s party and other opposition parties have staged frequent protests that caused projects associated with the corridor to be delayed, but Khan stressed that the target was Sharif and not China. (scmp)

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation looking frosty from Astana

Kazakhstan is one of Russia’s closest allies in Central Asian, and the relationship between Russia and Kazakhstan plays an important role in the functioning of the SCO. But the relationship has recently become rocky. Kazakhstan–China relations are ostensibly faring better. According to the official Kazakh narrative, relations between Kazakhstan and China are exemplary and Astana is eager to capture the opportunities provided by China’s Belt and Road Initiative. China has pledged to provide more than US$600 million to support the development of transport infrastructure in Kazakhstan within the next five years, and Chinese companies are building a light rail transit system in Astana with US$1.9 billion that Kazakhstan borrowed from the China Development Bank. More than 127 projects cumulatively worth US$67 billion were signed between Kazakhstan and China in the past six years. New joint projects were also discussed during Nazarbayev’s last visit to China in areas such as energy, oil and gas, new technologies and cultural cooperation.(eastasiaforum)

Kazakhs Increasingly Hostile to Both Russians and Chinese
Kazakhstanis are increasingly skeptical of close ties with both Russians and Chinese, profoundly limiting the ability of the former to recover the influence Moscow once had there and making it far more difficult for Beijing to move in and supplant it. (Jamestown)

Sauytbay Trial in Kazakhstan Puts Astana in a Bind with China
The complexities of international relations aside, is Kazakhstan going to choose China over Kazakhs? (the diplomat)

Asylum seeker to remain in Kazakhstan in Chinese internment centre case
A Kazakh court has decided against deporting a Chinese woman of Kazakh descent back to China, where her lawyers say she faces a risk of torture after working at a secretive internment centre in China’s western region of Xinjiang (FT)

CHINESE HANDLING OF KAZAKHS A BUMP IN BELT AND ROAD
Astana’s economic ties with Beijing leave it with a headache in dealing with public anger over the internment of its nationals in Xinjiang’s ‘re-education centres’ (scmp)

Kazakh port in decline bids for slice of China trade
With the outlines of its six idle cranes obscured by thick fog and pouring rain, Kazakhstan's Caspian seaport Aktau seems an unlikely stop on China's much-hyped new silk road.
But the sleepy port, which has been badly hit in recent years by new oil routes, is vying for a slice of the pie as competition for Chinese trade warms up on the shores of the world's largest inland sea. (AFP)

Crackdown in Xinjiang: Where have all the people gone?
The impact is beginning to be felt outside the region. Once thriving trade with China’s neighbours in Central Asia and Pakistan has dried up, with foreign traders unable to receive their usual one-month visas due to heightened security screening. Inventory depots, where traders gather to make deals, offload goods and exchange currency, have seen traffic plummet. (FT)

Criminal Arrests in Xinjiang Account for 21% of China’s Total in 2017

According to Chinese government data, criminal arrests in Xinjiang accounted for an alarming 21% of all arrests in China in 2017, though the population in the XUAR is only about 1.5% of China’s total. The ratio of formal arrests made in Xinjiang has increased by 306% in the past five years compared to the previous five-year period.Of the total number of people arrested from 2013 to 2017, nearly 70% of the arrests were made in the year 2017 alone. (nchrd)

Companies help create jobs, reduce poverty in Xinjiang

Huafu Fashion Co. Ltd., the world's largest supplier of melange yarn, will invest in 100 poor villages in southern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as part of three-year poverty-relief plan. Based in east China's Zhejiang Province, Huafu plans to invest a total of 100 million yuan (around 15 million US dollars) in 100 poverty-stricken villages in developing industries to boost employment over the following three years. (Xinhua)

China's CNPC to invest more than $22 billion to boost Xinjiang oil, gas output by 2020

China’s state oil company CNPC said on Wednesday it will invest more than 150 billion yuan ($22 billion) by 2020 to boost oil and gas output in the western Xinjiang region, the latest move to replace falling output from ageing fields in northeast China. Output will exceed 50 million tonnes of oil equivalent in the Xinjiang region within two years, CNPC said. (Reuters)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang tells Buddhist leaders to defend ethnic unity on rare trip to Tibet
Li also vows to boost infrastructure spending to improve economy, visiting tunnel construction site for railway link with Sichuan

Southern Xinjiang gets better connected

A key roadway in Hotan prefecture, in the south of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, was opened to traffic for the first time on Wednesday. The four-lane highway is an important component of China's planned road network that aims to better connect the country with Central and South Asia. (China Daily)

Russia, Central Asia accept BRI gainful

The ancient Silk Road once linked China with Central Asia and Russia, as well as Europe. In the 21st century, Central Asian countries have established even closer economic and trade ties with China. In fact, a series of medium-and long-term economic development strategies devised by the Central Asian countries have much in common with the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, and thus have created ample room and good opportunities for strategic cooperation. (China Daily)

China-Europe freight trains make 10,000 trips

"China has accumulated abundant management experience in running container terminals. After the acquisition, we've gradually introduced an advanced operation process and management into Noatum, and improved efficiency". With the help of the Chinese management team, the company has established an operations department to increase efficiency at the ports and railway terminals. A new health, security and safety department has been set up to ensure the company meets the highest safety standards.

CENTRAL ASIA

TAJIKISTAN

The self-proclaimed Islamic State claimed the killings of four foreign tourists who were run over by a car while cycling (NYT) and then stabbed. The Tajik government blamed the attack (RFE/RL) on a banned local Islamist party and said one assailant was trained in Iran.

Tajik or Russian” jets bomb Afghanistan following border skirmish
Strike confirms willingness to engage in cross-border operations to secure southern front. (eurasianet)

Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

The Syria connection to Iran, Afghanistan and China
Iranian academic spells out Iran's position in the Middle East and questions US policy toward the region; amid reports that the Qods force is unlikely to disband, and that Daesh (ISIS) is being moved the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. (Asia Times)

3039 freight trains from China to Central Asian countries depart from Qingdao
A gantry crane loads cargo onto a freight train bound for Central Asia at the Jiaozhou Bay International Logistics Harbour in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, May 7, 2018. As of Tuesday, a total of 3039 freight trains from China to Central Asian countries have departed from Qingdao, a nodal city on the economic corridor linking China, Central Asia and Europe. (Xinhua)

China-Pakistan Relations: Challenging US Global Leadership

Trans-Pacific View author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy. This conversation with Harrison Akins – Research Fellow at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee who specializes in South Asian politics – is the 141st in “The Trans-Pacific View Insight Series.” (The Diplomat)

China's Reach and Europe's Money Meet in Balkan Outpost

A short hike from the fishing village of Brijesta, where the Croatian mainland’s rocky coastline across the bay melts into the Adriatic, a four-story concrete pier scrapes the blue horizon.The hulking eyesore is part of an abandoned bridge project, an ever-present reminder of how the forces of history and squabbling politicians failed a region of about 100,000 people. It now has become a new symbol: where the benefits of European Union membership converge with China’s expanding influence. (Bloomberg)

China, CEE countries see steady trade growth in 2017

Trade between China and Central Eastern Europe (CEE) countries grew steadily in 2017, the Ministry of Commerce said over the weekend. Trade volume between China and 16 CEE countries reached 68 billion US dollars last year, up 15.9% year on year. (Xinhua)

China reaches out to Germany to ease worries about eastern Europe foray 
In a meeting with his German counterpart Heiko Maas in Berlin on Thursday, Wang said Beijing was considering trilateral cooperation with Germany and the central and eastern European countries in the “16+1” grouping led by China. (Scmp)

China has turned Xinjiang into a police state like no other
Adrian Zenz of the European School of Culture and Theology in Kortal, Germany, has looked at procurement contracts for 73 re-education camps. He found their total cost to have been 682m yuan ($108m), almost all spent since April 2017. Records from Akto, a county near the border with Kyrgyzstan, say it spent 9.6% of its budget on security (including camps) in 2017. In 2016 spending on security in the province was five times what it had been in 2007. By the end of 2017 it was ten times that: 59bn yuan.(Economist)

PetroChina to spend 5.3 bln yuan on Chongqing gas storage

XinhuaChina is aiming to turn hundreds of wells, including in mountainous Chongqing, into storage facilities for gas piped over from Myanmar and Turkmenistan, after a severe winter supply crunch left it short of the clean-burning fuel. (Reuters)

Siberian forests and their destruction
China’s green Belt and Road tested at the Russian border / ChinaDialogue
“Facing growing demand for wood and shortages in domestic supply, Chinese authorities are pushing for greater imports from Russia, ignoring the fact that its neighbor will cease to be a reliable supplier within a decade… Nowadays, mature forests in Russia are scarce.”

Europe-bound freight trains via Alataw Pass exceed 5,000

More than 5,000 China-Europe freight trains have travelled through Alataw Pass, a major rail port in northwest China, local customs said Monday.Alataw Pass in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is one of the busiest land ports on the modern Silk Road and connects the East Asia economic rim and the European economic circle. (Xinhua) 

Chinese-Russian Defense and Security Ties: Countering US Encirclement
China recently announced plans to contribute to Russian support of the Assad regime in Syria, just one of many ways in which Chinese-Russian security ties have strengthened over the past five years. Since the early 2010s, the two countries have been brought together by common threat perceptions and similar outlooks on the international security environment. Both claim to share a similar political ideology that centers on state sovereignty and non-interference, and each fears encirclement by the United States. These shared threat perceptions have led to an increased number of combined military exercises, more advanced military-technical cooperation, frequent high-level military-to-military contact, and unified stances on regional security issues across Asia. (Jamestown Foundation)

Fate of Chinese dam project up in the air after Nepal ministers send mixed signals

Confusion about the fate of a Chinese-funded mega dam deepened on Tuesday as Nepalese ministers apparently contradicted each other about whether the US$1.8 billion deal would go ahead.Fate of Chinese dam project up in the air after Nepal ministers send mixed signals. (Scmp)

Kyrgyzstan: Jeenbekov goes to Beijing with China the talk of Bishkek
Top allies of the former president's predecessor are under investigation over their dealings with a Chinese company. (Eurasianet)

China looks to bolster militancy fight at security summit

SCO Member countries have destroyed more than 500 training bases for armed militants and arrested some 2,000 members of “international terrorist organizations” between 2013 and 2017, Xinhua said. (Reuters)


CENTRAL ASIA

Kazakh Leader To Become Life-Long Security Council Chairman
President Nursultan Nazarbayev is expected to sign into law a bill that would allow him to lead the country's security council for life (RFE/RL). Critics of the bill say it is a means for Nazarbayev to hold onto power after leaving office.

Europe’s Pivot to Central Asia
Both Astana and Tashkent are demonstrating the potential that middle-ranking powers can have. Raffaello Pantucci raises some good points (Rusi)

A girl and her eagle help bridge Mongolian ethnic divisions
Documentary on huntress sparks interest in once-spurned minority. (Nikkei)

Foreign companies struggle in cash-strapped Turkmenistan
ALMATY/ANKARA (Reuters) - Some foreign companies in Turkmenistan are struggling to make sales and collect payments as economic pressures mount in large part because of a sharp drop in the Central Asian nation’s crucial gas exports. (Reuters)

Peter Frankopan on Kazakhstan and the new Silk Road
Why history matters more than ever in Astana, a city younger than Google. (FT)

Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

Cargo train delivers Chinese Spring Festival goods to Europe

A cargo train loaded with Chinese Spring Festival purchases left Zhengzhou, a key transport hub in central China's Henan Province, and headed for Germany Wednesday. China Railway Corporation's Zhengzhou bureau said it would increase the proportion of food products on the trains during the Spring Festival travel rush to meet the demand of overseas Chinese in countries along the Belt and Road routes. (Xinhua)

China in talks over military base in remote Afghanistan: Officials

Worried about militants sneaking into a restive Chinese region from war-torn Afghanistan, Beijing is in talks with Kabul over the construction of a military base, Afghan officials say, as it seeks to shore up its fragile neighbour.The army camp will be built in Afghanistan's remote and mountainous Wakhan Corridor, where witnesses have reported seeing Chinese and Afghan troops on joint patrols. (AFP)

Xinjiang assigns 76,000 officials to poor villages

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have assigned 76,000 officials to villages in 2018 to fight poverty and maintain stability. In an effort to enhance work in extremely poor villages and to alleviate poverty, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Committee in Xinjiang has assigned
76,000 officials and 12,000 working groups to cover every village in the region, the Xinjiang Morning Post reported on Thursday. (Global Times)

Chinese tycoon sues local government for $640m
One of China’s richest men has revealed an attempt to sue a municipal government for Rmb4bn ($640m) over a suspended project to build a new city, the biggest case of its kind brought by an entrepreneur against the state.Yan Jiehe said the company he founded, China Pacific Construction Group, had not been paid for its work on Lanzhou New City, a settlement once billed as “Las Vegas in the Gobi”, where diggers flattened dozens of hills before officials suspended the project in 2013. (FT)

Beijing sends in new envoy in sign it wants bigger role for Afghanistan in ‘New Silk Road’

Beijing is poised to step up security and economic engagement with Afghanistan, naming an official who has worked on President Xi Jinping’s signature trade initiative as its new envoy in Kabul. (scmp)


Defense Ministry's Regular Press Conference on January 25

I have noticed two different kinds of reports on this issue on the Internet. One says that China is financing Afghanistan to build a military base. I haven’t heard of anything like that.The other report says that China is planning to establish its own military base in Afghanistan. What I want to tell you is that China and Afghanistan maintain normal military security cooperation. China and the international community are all supporting the Afghanistan side to strengthen its capability-building in national defense and counter-terrorism. The report on China’s building of its own military base in Afghanistan is ungrounded. (Mod)

StanChart signs $1.6 billion 'Belt and Road' funding deal with China

State-owned China Development Bank will make available up to 10 billion yuan ($1.59 billion) to Standard Chartered to fund projects in countries along China’s ‘Belt and Road’ infrastructure route, StanChart said on Thursday. (Reuters)

Gerry Shih on China’s Uyghur Muslims, under pressure at home and abroad
Associated Press (AP) reporter Gerry Shih was hard at work in 2017 writing a remarkable series of articles on China’s Uyghur Muslim minority. By traveling not just to China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where 10 to 15 million Uyghurs live, but also to Syria, where some have fled and taken up arms with militant groups, he sought to answer the most politicized and consequential
questions about the ethnic group. (supchina)

Tibet's foreign trade rebounds in 2017
Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region saw its foreign trade rebound in 2017. The total value of imports and exports in the region rose 13.9% to 5.885 billion yuan (934.4 million US dollars) last year. Tibet's foreign trade fell for two consecutive years following the Nepal earthquake in 2015. Xinhua

Chinese shipping employee shot dead in Pakistan's city of Karachi

A Chinese man working with a shipping company in Pakistan was shot dead on Monday in what police described as a targeted attack in Karachi, police and hospital officials said. (Reuters)

Businesses tapping Belt and Road 'will have recourse'

Beijing's recent decision to set up three international commercial courts to resolve disputes arising from its ambitious multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been viewed as a logical next step, according to observers. (Strait Times)

How Come China’s Ex-Reds Are So Much Better off Than Russia’s Ex-Reds?

China and Russia followed two distinct approaches to reform, leading to drastically different trajectories of economic growth.While both countries have experienced rising inequality over the last 30 years, Russia’s income distribution has worsened at a faster pace and in a bigger magnitude. What caused the difference in income distribution dynamics between the two? There are important lessons to be learned on the impact of policy decisions on inequality. (Asia Sentinel)

Kazakhstan focusses on water efficiency to ease water sharing with China
Policymakers in Kazakhstan shift focus to domestic water saving measures to reduce reliance on river water flowing from China. (the third pole)

CENTRAL ASIA

Kazakhstan: Online Anonymity Ban in Force from April
Any websites failing to stop people from commenting anonymously will face fines of $750 or more.This strict anonymity rule is part of a broader set of restrictions on the media that were approved by President Nursultan Nazarbayev in November. Critics of the legislation have cried foul, insisting it will severely limit the freedoms of journalists to do their jobs. (Eurasianet)

Uzbek President Announces Reform of Notorious Special Service

The National Security Service of Uzbekistan (SNB) will be refocused on the core tasks of the special service and transfer all non-related units to other government institutions, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced during an extended meeting of the SNB's leadership on January 31, the presidential press service reports. (Fergana News)

Former Uzbek leader's daughter resigns as ambassador

Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, daughter of former Uzbek leader Islam Karimov, has stepped down as Uzbekistan’s UNESCO representative, becoming the latest official from her father’s administration to depart. (Reuters)

How Shavkat Mirziyoev Became Uzbekistan's Supreme Leader

The dismissal of the head of Uzbekistan’s National Security Service (SNB), Rustam Inoyatov, on January 31 was the latest and arguably most important step so far in President Shavkat Mirziyoev’s consolidation of power.It was clear when Mirziyoev came to power in September 2016 after the death of Uzbekistan’s first president, Islam Karimov, that Mirziyoev would have to fend off some challenges before he could cement his claim to leadership. (rferl)

Work Resumes On Troubled Turkmenistan-China Pipeline
Work has resumed in Tajikistan on construction work on a natural gas pipeline running from Turkmenistan to China.Deputy Energy and Water Resources Minister Jamshed Shoimzoda said at a
press conference on January 30 that funding for building work is being provided by China. Payments are being made on a regular basis, he said. (Eurasianet)

Tajikistan expanding cotton fields in a bid to raise output
Cotton cultivation area in Tajikistan has increased by 13,500 hectares this year, local news agency TajikTA reported Feb. 5.“Cotton is one of the Tajik export commodities and a raw material for the local light industry. With growth of market demand cotton is now being cultivated in a total area of 187,500 hectares, 13,500 hectares more compared to 2017,” Tajik Ministry of Agriculture states. (Trend)

Tajikistan Converts 2,000 Mosques Into Public Facilities

Tajikistan last year converted 2,000 mosques into facilities for general public use in its latest effort to streamline the practice of religion in the country and marginalize those not directly under government control. (Eurasianet)

Tajikistan: Opposition Leader Tried in Absentia
A spokesman for the court has declined to state what Muhiddin Kabiri is being charged with, saying those details are a "state secret." (Eurasianet)

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)

Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

China goes on logistics buying spree to support ‘new Silk Road’
Acquisitions across Eurasia to enhance trade flows double to $32.2bn (FT)

David Cameron given special dispensation to broker talks between Britain and China in new role leading £750m investment fund

David Cameron is helping to set up up a new £750m UK-China investment fund aimed at forging closer ties between the two countries, it has been confirmed.The former Prime Minister will become vice chairman of the new private equity fund after being approached for the role by Lord Chadlington, a friend and former Tory donor. (Telegraph)

AIIB approves first loan project in China
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) announced Monday that it has approved its first loan in China for a natural gas project.The 250-million-U.S. dollar loan will fund a project to connect 216,750 households in approximately 510 villages to the natural gas distribution network, according to an AIIB statement. (Xinhua)

Russia urges India to line up behind China's Belt and Road initiative 

Russia threw its weight behind China’s massive Belt and Road plan to build trade and transport links across Asia and beyond, suggesting to India on Monday that it find a way to work with Beijing on the signature project. (Reuters)

From the Caucasus to the Balkans, China’s Silk Roads are rising
With its focus on Central Asia and Eastern Europe, the Belt and Road Initiative can be seen as fulfilling a strategy of challenging the West that can be traced back to Mao (Asia Times)

Soviet archives reveal a turning point in the Chinese Communist Party’s relationship with Uyghur and Kazakh elites in Xinjiang

In China’s frontier regions, the victims of the “anti-rightist” campaign were initially mostly Han Chinese. In Xinjiang, as elsewhere, the non-Han population was slow to heed Mao’s call, but when they eventually did, the response brought to light serious dissent among intellectuals and party members (particularly Uyghurs and Kazakhs). (Wilson Center)

CPEC long-term plan to be made public on Dec 18: Ahsan Iqbal

Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has announced that the long-term plan (LTP) for the China-Pakistan Econo­mic Corridor (CPEC) that was signed on Nov 21 will be made public on Dec 18. Making the LTP public was a commitment given by the minister back in June. (Dawn)

Construction of China-Russia natural gas pipeline gains steam

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) said on 13 December that it had sped up laying natural gas pipelines connecting China and Russia, a major energy cooperation between the two countries. Welding of the northern part of the 3,371-kilometer east-route natural gas pipeline has begun, the company announced. The pipeline originates in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and terminates in Shanghai in the east. Construction began in June 2015 and will be completed in 2020. (Xinhua)

2,000-year-old Protectorate of the Western Regions confirmed in Xinjiang
After four years of archaeological study, an ancient city in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has been basically confirmed as the former seat of the Protectorate of the Western Regions about 2,000 years ago. (Xinhua)

Thought police create climate of fear in China’s tense Xinjiang region
Xinjiang’s published budget data from January to August shows public security spending this year is on track to increase 50 per cent from 2016 to roughly 45 billion yuan (US$6.8 billion) after rising 40 per cent a year ago. It has quadrupled since 2009, a watershed year when a Uygur riot broke out in Xinjiang, leaving nearly 200 members of China’s Han ethnic majority dead, and security began to ratchet up. (AFP)

China builds up troop numbers close to Indian border flashpoint as soldiers prepare for first winter near Doklam

China has started building up its military forces near the Doklam plateau – the site of a protracted stand-off early this year, Indian media has reported.Analysts suggested the development would allow China to tighten its control of its borders and prepare for any future problems in the region.
It is also improving its military infrastructure, including new mortar and gun positions, at a site between five and 10km from the site of this summer’s two-month stand-off, Indian media reported, citing satellite imagery acquired on December 3. (Scmp)

Insight: Hoping to extend maritime reach, China lavishes aid on Pakistan town

China is lavishing vast amounts of aid on a small Pakistani fishing town to win over locals and build a commercial deep-water port that the United States and India suspect may also one day serve the Chinese navy.Since 2014, Beijing has pledged over $800 million in grants and concessional loans for Gwadar, which has less than 100,000 people. In the 15 years before that, China gave about $2.4 billion in concessional loans and grants during this period across the whole of Pakistan, a nation of 207 million people.“Gwadar is exceptional even by the standards of China’s past activities in Pakistan itself,” Parks said. (Reuters)

Nepal’s government-in-waiting to revive scrapped Chinese dam project, officials tell SCMP

Ishwor Pokhrel, general secretary of the CPN-UML, said that after taking power the new government would implement a 15-point joint communique signed by Oli and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in March 2016 that covered transportation, trade and financial cooperation. (Scmp)

Russia-India-China meeting shows a multipolar world order is taking shape

C. Uday Bhaskar says this week’s meeting of Russian, Indian and Chinese foreign ministers was not marked by complete agreement, but still reveals the fulfilment of the grouping’s promise – an end to unipolar US dominance. (Scmp)

Cargo train service flourishes between Zhengzhou, Hamburg

Cargo trains made a total of 449 journeys between Zhengzhou, a transport hub in central China's Henan Province, and Hamburg, Germany between January and November this year, the operator said on 13 December. According to the Zhengzhou International Hub Development and Construction Co., more than 234,000 tonnes of cargo worth 2.44 billion US dollars were delivered during the period. (Xinhua)








CENTRAL ASIA


Tajikistan: How a Broke Government Keeps its Books Balanced
In its annual budget, Tajikistan is relying on unusual accounting maneuvers to ensure its books reflect a healthy balance. The reality is far bleaker, and international support is playing a key role in holding the country back from the economic precipice. (Eurasianet)

A Second Year Of Shortages In Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan has a population of some 5 million people. Turkmenistan also has the fourth-largest natural-gas reserves in the world.The small population and the large amount of gas led Turkmenistan's first president, Saparmurat Niyazov, to predict after its 1991 independence that Turkmenistan would become a second Kuwait and everybody would be driving Mercedes.
Instead, Turkmenistan is facing its second straight year of shortages of basic foods as winter approaches. (rferl)

Kazakhstan coal miners carry out strike underground
Hundreds of coal miners in Kazakhstan are refusing to return to the surface until their wages are doubled and working conditions improved.More than 600 miners in the Karaganda region of central Kazakhstan have been underground for four days.It is the country's largest workers' protest since the government violently clamped down on striking oil workers in 2011. (The Diplomat)

IRAN’S PROSPECTS IN JOINING THE SCO

Iran's joining of the SCO is beneficial to both sides, said Valdai Club expert, Nandan Unnikrishnan, Vice President and Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. With the accession of Iran, the SCO will be able to settle the Afghanistan problem, and develop strategic transport corridors. Iran, becoming a member of the SCO, will raise its rating as a regional player. (

Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

China, Uzbek joint natural gas project ready to start pumping

A natural gas project jointly developed by China and Uzbekistan in the southern part of the central Asian nation is ready to start producing, China National Petroleum Corp said on Tuesday. Phase one of the Karakul block in southern Bukhara province would be able to pump 1 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year to China though the Central-Asian pipeline grid, the company said, though it did not say when the supply would start. (scmp)

More neighbors are saying “no thanks” to Chinese money—for now

A common pattern has been for China to sign controversial projects when a pro-China government is in place—as was the case with Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Hambantota port deal—only to see them revisited once less receptive administrations are in power. In Nepal, outgoing prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), signed a preliminary agreement for the dam in June, just days before he relinquished his post to the rival Nepali Congress as part of a pre-existing power-sharing agreement. Current deputy prime minister Kamal Thapa criticized and scrapped the project for not having gone through open bidding as required by law.

China to invest in Kazakhstan's Aktyubinsk region

Chinese corporation Tianjin Bohua Petrochemical will invest $4 billion in the construction of a factory which is expected to produce polyethylene and polypropylene from natural gas in the Aktyubinsk region of Kazakhstan.The memorandum of cooperation was signed within the framework of the working visit of the Akim of Aktobe region Berdybek Saparbayev to Beijing.The foreign trade turnover between Kazakhstan and China in the first eight months of 2017 increased by 31 percent and amounted to $6.5 billion. Kazakhstan’s exports amounted to $3.5 billion showing an increase of 28 percent, while imports grew by 36 percent and equaled to $3 billion. (Azernews)

Japan to help finance China's Belt and Road projects
The Japanese government intends to financially support private-sector partnerships within China's Belt and Road Initiative in a nod to improving ties. Japan will provide backing, such as loans through government-backed financial institutions, to promote cooperation among Japanese and Chinese private companies working on initiatives in third-party nations. (Nikkei)

China plans super-grid for clean power in Asia
China’s bold vision is to create a global renewable energy grid that connects renewable energy generation across hemispheres. This would create a continuous source of clean power across national borders. The Beijing-based Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organisation (Geidco) and China’s State Grid Corporation have proposed a layout for such a system in Asia. This would develop six ultra high voltage grids across China, north-east Asia, Southeast Asia, south Asia, central Asia and west Asia to cement a clean power system in the region. President Xi Jinping recently underlined the strategic role that the BRI should play in this system. The wind and power resources of central Asia are a vital resource for one component of this grid.(FT)

China’s Billions Cannot Guarantee it a Free Ride in Pakistan

Fighting to compete with cheap imports from neighboring China, Shabbir Tiles & Ceramics Ltd., a unit of the House of Habib family business operating since 1841, had suffered four years of losses. It’s is now on course to post an annual profit next financial year after Pakistan placed an anti-dumping duty on Chinese tiles in October. That follows similar moves from the regulator on steel products. (Bloomberg)

China denies making impossible demands for collapsed US$14 billion infrastructure deal with Pakistan

Beijing did not ask for ownership rights to Diamer-Bhasha dam, an unnamed official with China’s top planning agency was quoted on state media (scmp)

China, Ukraine signed an action plan on jointly building Belt and Road; agreed to deepen collaboration to strengthen partnership
China and Ukraine on Tuesday signed an action plan on jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road and agreed to deepen all-round collaboration to strengthen their strategic partnership at the third session of the China-Ukraine Intergovernmental Commission on bilateral cooperation here Tuesday. (Xinhua)

China Puts Five Xinjiang Oil Fields on Auction Block

China will accelerate its efforts to open up upstream oil and gas resources by auctioning five more oil exploration sites in Xinjiang.This will be the second auction of oil sites in the northwestern autonomous region open to privately-owned firms. In July 2015, the Chinese government auctioned off the rights to explore five parcels of land in Xinjiang. Prior to this, upstream oil and gas assets in the country were almost exclusively controlled by China’s largest state-owned energy companies. (caixin)

Belt and Road to Where?

On October 24, 2017, the Communist Party of China (CPC) adopted a new version of the Party Constitution. Along with the name of Secretary General Xi Jinping, the document enshrined the One Belt One Road (OBOR) concept – Xi’s trademark geoeconomic concept that is now used to explain almost every move that China makes outside its borders. The “Belt and Road” concept has become so inflated, that it’s no longer helpful to understanding anything about China’s relationship with the outside world, but only further obscures an already complicated picture. (Carnegie)

CENTRAL ASIA

On the Ancient Silk Road, a Walk Shadowed by a Mystery

A special report by national geographic (National geopgraphic)

Uzbek President Mirziyoev Pardons 2,700 Convicts With Decree
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev has signed a decree ordering what state media outlets called the first mass pardoning of convicts in the Central Asian country's history.A total of 2,700 convicts were pardoned under the decree signed on December 7, and 956 of them will be released from prison, state media reports said. (rferl)

Afghanistan's Ghani Visits Uzbekistan on Mission to Plug Into Central Asia

The president of Afghanistan has visited Uzbekistan on a mission to plug his struggling nation into a region from which it has long been isolated, despite the tantalizing proximity.President Ashraf Ghani traveled to Uzbekistan, for the first time since coming to power in 2014, at the invitation of his Uzbek counterpart, Shavkat Mirziyoyev. (Eurasianet)

Kyrgyzstan Says It Will Withdraw Complaint Against Kazakhstan At WTO

Kyrgyzstan says it plans to withdraw a complaint it filed with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over Kazakhstan’s moves to step up controls on the border, which preceded a two-month bottleneck.
Deputy Prime Minister Tolkunbek Abdykulov told reporters in Bishkek on December 5 that the complaint will be withdrawn after Kyrgyz and Kazakh authorities agreed on a "road map" to solve the problem. (Rferl)

Eurasian Economic Union: Many Problems, Few Solutions

The squabble between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan was relatively petty, but the cracks that their dispute exposed in the Eurasian Economic Union, a trading bloc to which they both belong, are proving harder than ever to paper over. (Eurasianet)

Post-Soviet Governments Weaponize Transparency: Report

Authoritatian governments have cleverly used the liberal norm of transparency in order to shut down liberal groups in their countries, a new report has detailed.The report, "Distract, Divide, Detach: Using Transparency and Accountability to Justify Regulation of Civil Society Organizations," is aimed at helping civil society organizations (CSOs) against a growing backlash against them. The report describes how a focus on transparency, in particular requirements to disclose sources of funding, has allowed authoritarian states to paint liberal CSOs (also known as NGOs, non-governmental organizations) as puppets of the West with little local constituency, and to justify crackdowns against them. (.eurasianet)

Russian President Vladimir Putin to launch giant US$27 billion LNG project in the Arctic

President Vladimir Putin was set to launch Friday (Dec 8) a US$27 billion (S$37 billion) liquefied natural gas plant in the snow-covered plains of the Arctic as Russia hopes to surpass Qatar to become the world's biggest exporter of the chilled fuel. With Yamal LNG, the country intends to strengthen its market presence in Asia and demonstrate its capacity to exploit huge Arctic reserves despite major technological challenges. (Afp)

Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

General Electric, China's Silk Road Fund to launch energy investment platform

General Electric Co and a Chinese state fund set up for the Belt and Road trade initiative plan to jointly establish an energy infrastructure investment platform, China’s government said. The announcement came on the sidelines of a state visit to Beijing by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been looking to rev up U.S.-China trade. “The two sides will jointly invest in electric power grids, new energy and oil and gas, in countries and regions along the Belt and Road,” SAFE said. (Reuters)

Syria-China diplomatic relations

As the Syrian government regains control over vast swaths of territory from ISIS and with de-escalation zones now established in four areas across the country, China’s cautious economic approach towards Syria seems to be slowly, but decisively, changing, Fadi Esber writes. The reconstruction of Syria will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, and China wants its share of the pie. In July, Beijing announced a US$2 billion dollar plan to build an industrial park in Syria for 150 Chinese companies, although few details about the project were revealed. Then, in August, Chinese companies participated in the 59th Damascus International Fair. That was preceded by a Syria Day Expo organized by the Syrian embassy in Beijing, with hundreds of Chinese specialists in attendance. More revealing, however, about China’s understanding of the situation on the ground – and its intentions to carve out a significant Chinese role in post-conflict Syria – was a recent visit by the Chinese ambassador in Syria to Manin, a small town just north of Damascus. (Asia Times)

Russia, China discuss plans for Harbin-Vladivostok express link
The 380 kilometer project is being costed at US$19 billion. One expert warns, however, that western sanctions Russia may scupper its implementation (atimes)

Opinion: China can cope with any bumps along the way on ‘Belt and Road’
Beijing has long experience dealing with countries involved in its massive trade initiative and the idea that it’s not prepared for problems is misleading, writes Raffaello Pantucci (scmp)
Families of Uyghur Police Officers Among Those Detained in Xinjiang’s KashgarFamily members of ethnic Uyghur security personnel in northwest China’s Xinjiang region, who authorities had previously considered “off limits,” are among those now being detained as part of “stability” measures the officers have been tasked with enforcing, according to sources. (RFA)

China's Xinjiang region closed 112 coal mines by end-October
China's Xinjiang region shut 112 coal mines with an annual capacity of 11.45 million tonnes by the end of October, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday (Nov 12), citing officials from the regional government's energy bureau. (Reuters)


CENTRAL ASIA


Uzbekistan, Tajikistan Power Grids to Reunite in Boon for the Region
In the latest heartening indication of improving energy cooperation in Central Asia, Uzbekistan is pledging to reintegrate its electricity grid with that of Tajikistan.Efforts have over the past decade gone in the other direction, with Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan taking the lead in the late 2000s by pulling out of the Soviet-built regional electricity grid. Eso Sadullayev, head of strategic planning at state-run Uzbekenergo, told Uzbek media that Tashkent has already put the required infrastructure into place to reverse that trend. (eurasianet)

Golden Boy Bishimbaev Goes On Trial In Kazakhstan
Though just 37 years old, Kuandyk Bishimbaev has already been Kazakhstan's deputy minister of industry and trade, deputy chairman of the sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna, chairman of the national holding company Bayterek, and economy minister.But his current title is court defendant, as his trial got under way on November 7.Bishimbaev is accused of accepting bribes when he was head of Bayterek, but there is far more to this story than allegations of an official engaging in corrupt practices. (rferl)

Central Asia corruption

As the investigation into US President Donald Trump’s alleged ties with Russia gains momentum, separate inquiries are being conducted in Europe and the US into a US$2.9 billion Azerbaijani money laundering operation and slush fund that paid off European politicians and financially benefited the country’s ruling elite for two years, Alan Boyd writes. Former Soviet republics have funneled billions of dollars into lobbying activities since the end of the Cold War in an effort to influence the policies of Western governments, including sanctions imposed against their own corrupt actions.

Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

19th Party Congress: Overseas assets held by China SOEs exceed S$1.2t

The value of overseas assets held by China's centrally owned enterprises has exceeded 6 trillion yuan (S$1.2 trillion), with investments in more than 185 countries and regions, the state assets regulator said on Wednesday (Oct 18).China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are spearheading investment in infrastructure projects overseas along the ancient Silk Road land and sea trade routes, part of Beijing's signature Belt and Road Initiative.Firms owned by the central government have co-built 1,676 projects with countries along the Belt and Road, the state assets regulator said in a handout ahead of a news conference on the sidelines of the 19th Party Congress in Beijing. (Reuters)

China's CNPC imports first gas from Kazakhstan ahead of winter

Kazakhstan has started supplying gas to China via the Central-Asia China gas pipeline system for the first time, state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) said on Monday.Commercial gas volumes were sent across the Kazakh-Chinese border on Oct. 13, CNPC said on its website, part of a deal under which Kazakhstan has agreed to send 5 billion cubic meters of gas to China over one year. (Reuters)

Erik Prince Weighing Senate Bid While Tackling Xinjiang Security Challenge

Erik Prince, the former chief of the controversial private security firm Blackwater, is evidently mulling a run for a US Senate seat. At the same time, he is working with China’s government to provide security services in the restive western region of Xinjiang. The boundary between private business and governments has been eroding since the 1970s. Prince’s path clearly represents this process. While potentially wanting to shake up the political status quo in Washington, Prince also is supporting Beijing’s aim of establishing itself as a global economic and political power, and changing Eurasia’s geopolitical balance. (Eurasianet)

Gansu villages benefit from poverty alleviation policies since 18th CPC Congress

Over the past five years, poverty alleviation work has been a major focus of the Communist Party of China (CPC). In 2016, a total of 12.4 million rural people have been lifted out of poverty, and the central government has also promised to do the same for more than 10 million every year. China's experiences in fighting poverty can also be applied worldwide. One prime example is the introduction of industries into rural areas as a means of creating jobs and increasing household income. Global Times

700 China-Europe freight trains to depart Xinjiang in 2017

The year's 500th China-Europe freight train departed Thursday from NW China's Urumqi. 200 more expected. By October, more than 5,000 cargo train trips have been made between Chinese and European cities since the start of the direct rail freight services six years ago, according to China Railway Corporation.(Xinhua)

Attack on workers at key Pakistan port for Chinese project; 26 hurt
Unidentified men threw a grenade into a laborers' hostel in the Pakistani port of Gwadar wounding 26 of them, police said on Friday, in an attack likely to raise concern about security for the Pakistani section of China's "Belt and Road" initiative.There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, one of three on Thursday in the gas-rich southwestern province of Baluchistan, a key section of the plan
for energy and transport links connecting western China with the Middle East and Europe. (reuters)

Stop CPEC now: Baloch leaders to China

On the day the supreme body of the Communist Party of China met for its 19th Congress in Beijing, the Baloch leadership in exile issued a strong warning to China to stop the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPECBSE -4.45 %) or face on the ground consequences. (economictimes)

China Speeds Up Work On $2 Billion Project That India Has Objected To 

China plans to complete a $2 billion hydropower project in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir ahead of schedule, according to state-run media in Beijing.The Karot Hydropower Project is being built on the river Jhelum. Construction began last year. It will be owned by a Chinese firm for 30 years, after which it will be handed over to the Pakistan government.India has consistently opposed China's funding of projects in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir on the grounds that it violates India's territorial sovereignty. (ndtv)

Construction of Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway may be conducted in several stages: Russian Railways
Russian Railways said the China-backed plan to build a 770-kilometer high-speed railway between the Russian cities of Moscow and Kazan may proceed section by section over the weekend. Last week, Russian media reports suggested that Russia might opt to build only one section of the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway first, from Moscow to Vladimir, a city 200 kilometers east of the Russian capital.Under the current plan, the construction of the Moscow-Vladimir section is proposed to take place under a concession scheme from 2018 to 2023, said Russian Railways, the Russian company behind the project, over the weekend in an e-mail sent to the Global Times. (Global Times)

CENTRAL ASIA 

Four nations meet to resume stalled Afghan peace talks in Oman

Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States met in Oman on 16 October to try to find ways of reviving peace talks with Afghan Taliban militants, two officials in Pakistan’s foreign ministry said. But it was not clear if any Afghan Taliban had joined the talks, which have so far failed to restart a tentative process that collapsed in 2015. Reuters

EIB, Uzbekistan sign co-op agreement

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Uzbekistan have signed a framework agreement in Washington.The EIB will now be able to support public and private sector projects in such areas as public infrastructure, energy and energy efficiency and small business development, podrobno.uz reported. Uzbekistan is the fourth state in Central Asia cooperating with the EIB. Similar agreements have already been signed with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. These signatures were followed by financing in the amount of more than 700 million euros. (Azernews)

Observers see 'significant and numerous' problems at Kyrgyzstan vote
European observers said on Monday there were “numerous and significant procedural problems” during the count in Kyrgyzstan’s presidential vote, but praised the orderly transfer of power in the volatile ex-Soviet state. (Reuters)

Tajikistan announces official register of gay citizens

Authoritarian Tajikistan announced on Tuesday (Oct 17) it had drawn up a register of 367 allegedly gay citizens, suggesting they would be required to undergo testing to avoid "the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases". Details of the move was unveiled in Zakonnost, a newspaper published by Tajikistan's state prosecutor which said the official list of "gay and lesbian" citizens was compiled following research into the LGBT community. (AFP)

Warming Uzbek-Iranian Relations Worth Watching

A recent meeting of officials from Uzbekistan and Iran was a curious event. Central Asia has seen a reshuffling of relations over the past couple years, and improved relations between Tashkent and Tehran is one of the more intriguing developments.Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov led the Uzbek delegation that also included Foreign Trade Minister Elyor Ganiev and Uzbekneftegaz chief Alisher Sultanov. During their October 16-18 visit, members of the Uzbek delegation met with Iranian President Hassan Rohani, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, and Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh. (rferl)

As Tillerson heads to Pakistan, Islamabad wary of deepening U.S.-India ties

As U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson heads to Pakistan on Tuesday to pressure Islamabad to act over militants targeting Afghanistan from its soil, anxious Pakistanis may be equally interested in dissuading Washington’s deepening ties with India. (Reuters)

Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

Financial institutions pour in Xinjiang, eyeing B&R opportunities

Chinese and foreign financial institutions have been pouring into Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in recent months, looking for opportunities under China's "One Belt and One Road" (B&R) initiative, local media reported on Monday. In the past week, two banks, Bank of Beijing and Pakistan's Habib Bank, opened branches in Urumqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang, xinjiangnet.com reported. Xinjiang has been investing heavily in infrastructure in recent years as part of the B&R initiative. The regional government has set a target to invest 1.5 trillion yuan ($218.3 billion) in fixed assets in 2017, the Xinhua News Agency reported on March 7. At the end of 2016, there were 144 financial institutions in the region, spanning 15 different categories, including personal banking and investment banking, according to the report. Xinjiang's banking sector raised 293.8 billion yuan for B&R projects in the region in 2016, up 16.18 percent. (Global Times)

Official urges archeologists to prove Xinjiang part of China since ancient times

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region said archeological work should be used to counter anti-secessionist purposes, by using cultural relics to teach people that Xinjiang has always been part of China. Xinjiang Party chief Chen Quanguo wrote to a regional archeological work meeting on Wednesday in Urumqi that Xinjiang needs to use their work to "cultivate and promote core socialist values, deepen patriotic education and strengthen anti-secessionist thoughts." Xinjiang vice chairman Arken Tuniyaz also said that archeological work and the preservation of cultural relics need to help maintain social stability and safeguard ethnic unity.  (Global Times)

Archaeologists in China believe they have found ancient Silk Road capitalArchaeologists in Xinjiang believe an ancient city and three tombs they unearthed in the Lop Nor area of a desert was the capital of the Loulan Kingdom along the ancient Silk Road. The ancient city, uncovered in January along the north bank of the Kongque River, sat in the depths of the desert, 57.5km to the west of an ancient city of the Loulan Kingdom that Swedish explorer Sven Hedin discovered in 1900, China National Radio reported. Archaeologists spent two months reconstructing the site, which was built on a loess platform, and restored the city, of which only sections of walls remained due to wind erosion. The city was a circle of 300 metres in diameter with walls of 2.2 to 2.7 metres high. (Scmp)

Xinjiang passes regulation on eradication of extremism

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region passed a regulation on the eradication of extremism on Wednesday, calling on all corners of society to combat extremism while stressing that no one should spread extremist views in schools."Teachers should play an active role in guiding students in advocating science, pursuing the truth and resisting superstition and radicalization. No individual or organization should use classes, lectures or forums to spread extremist views," reads the regulation. The regulation also mentions that schools should strengthen education to combat separatism, and enhance the capacity of educators to resist ideological infiltration by religious extremism. (Global Times) --- > Related: China sets rules on beards, veils to combat extremism in Xinjiang China will step up a campaign against religious extremism in the far western region of Xinjiang on Saturday by implementing a range of measures, including prohibiting "abnormal" beards, the wearing of veils in public places and the refusal to watch state television. (Reuters)

Terror threats transform China's Uighur heartland into security state

Spending on security in Xinjiang is rising, jumping nearly 20 percent in 2016 to more than 30 billion yuan ($4.35 billion), according to state media.That can be seen in the metal detectors and airport-style security checks in place at major public areas, including Kashgar's ancient Id Kah mosque, bazaars, malls and hotels.Police spot document checks are carried out on pedestrians, with mobile phones inspected for extremist videos or use of banned chat applications like Telegram, WhatsApp and Twitter. Mobile internet speeds have been slowed from 4G to 3G. (Reuters)

A New Chinese Interest In Central Asian Security

Beijing's security cooperation with the Central Asian states is likely to grow significantly stronger in the coming months.The militant group Islamic State (IS) recently released a video purportedly showing Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim group living for centuries in an area that is now the western part of China, training somewhere in the Middle East. One Uyghur speaks in the video, making threats against China. It was not the first time Uyghurs fighting in Islamic extremist groups threatened China, but this recent video certainly got the attention of the Chinese government. (Rferl)

On State TV, Chinese Forces Storm a Compound a Lot Like Bin Laden’s

A news broadcast showed the police training at a replica of the house where Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011. It took an eagle-eyed viewer to point it out. (NYT)

Pakistan wrestles with growing 'Chinese corridor' debt
Two international lending institutions and Pakistan's central bank have raised concerns about the debt burden of a huge China-led infrastructure program on the country's improving but fragile finances.
Surging Chinese imports for the initiative, known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor program, have complicated Pakistan's balance of payments problems during its second year of economic recovery following a decade of conflict with Taliban insurgents and their al-Qaeda allies. (Asia Nikkei)

China's Terrorism Threat and Response in 2016

In August 2016, China experienced what appears to have been the first targeted terrorist attack against one of its embassies.1 A Uygur suicide bomber drove a car into China’s diplomatic compound in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, exploding it outside the ambassador’s residence; the attacker was the only fatality, but three Kyrgyz employees were injured. While Kyrgyz authorities were quick to link the attack to a Syrian-based network—although publicly available evidence to date has been limited—for Beijing the attack was the manifestation of an increased threat from Uygur groups, which had now spread beyond China to threaten Chinese interests abroad. (aspi.org)

WHY CHINA, INDIA AND THE DALAI LAMA ARE PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES IN TAWANG

A small Himalayan district is the focus of intense diplomatic heat stemming from long-standing, unresolved border issues reignited by a planned visit from the Tibetan spiritual leader (Scmp)

BRICS bank NDB plans to co-finance infrastructure projects w/ AIIB along the Beltand Road economies
The New Development Bank plans to co-finance infrastructure projects with the AsianInfrastructure Investment Bank along the Belt and Road economies after more membersjoin in, the NDB's vice president said on Sunday. (People's Daily)

First meeting of Mongolian, Russian and Chinese experts takes place

The first tripartite experts' meeting on the implementation of a program to establish Economic Corridor of Mongolia, China and Russia took place on 24 March in Beijing, China. The tripartite meeting was chaired by V.Enkhbold, Director of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the Mongolian side, Xiao Weiming, Deputy Director of Western Development Division of the China’s National Development and Reform Commission from the Chinese side and A.V.Zelenov, Deputy Director of Department of Asia, Africa and Latin America countries of the Ministry of Economic Development from the Russian side. (Montsame)

Uzbekistan embarks on journey
More than 2,000 years ago, China and Central Asia were linked by the Silk Road. Now a modern version of the ancient trading route is being built, and Confucius Institutes are spreading the Chinese language and culture throughout the region.Uzbekistan is a typical Silk Road country. Some of its oldest cities, such as Bukhara and Samarkand, became wealthy as a result of the fabled route and established close commercial relations with China. ChinaDaily



CENTRAL ASIA

U.S. Boosts Special Forces Training in Central Asia

The United States has stepped up its trainings of elite military units in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan over the last two years, U.S. government records show. At the same time, the U.S. has suspended training of units from Kyrgyzstan, previously one of the biggest recipients of such aid. According to Security Assistance Monitor data, the U.S. spent $115 million in security assistance in the region in fiscal year 2015, the last year for which complete data was available. The fate of these aid programs under the administration of President Trump is unclear. Trump has promised to slash foreign aid, but also a tougher fight against Islamist terror groups, which governments in Central Asia tend to use as a justification for the need for military aid. (Eurasianet)

MACRO ADVISER: Nazarbayev puts it all on red
Kazakhstan has a reputation for being very conservative in both monetary policy and budget management; so conservative indeed that the government has often been accused of focusing too much on drafting elaborate economic reforms and not enough on actually implementing them.
It has also been criticised for reacting far too slowly to changing events. For example, when the Russian Central Bank let the ruble fully free-float in early 2015, a move that severely impacted the Kazakh economy, it took the National Bank of Kazakhstan more than six months to follow suit.
So why has President Nursultan Nazarbayev's government abandoned its traditional conservative approach and gone for broke with a radical change to the budget and the way it manages the economy? (Intellinews)

Russian long-range bombers used in war games in Tajikistan
The Russian military says its long-range bombers have practiced hitting targets in Tajikistan during joint drills with the Central Asian nation. Russia's Defense Ministry said Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 bombers have flown missions to strike a "terrorist camp" in Tajik mountains as part of the four-day war games that ended Thursday. (Daily Mail)

Kyrgyzstan: Police Suggest Expelling Foreigners Without Courts
The Interior Ministry in Kyrgyzstan is pushing for new rules that would allow them to expel foreigners from the country without need for a court ruling, thereby streamlining the process.
Officials say revisions to the law are intended to target people violating migration laws. They come on the heels of the Kyrgyz authorities’ recent decision to summarily expel a Russian journalist from the country without clear legal justification. (Eurasianet)