Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

China's long game for Middle East influence

One major project within China's Belt and Road infrastructure initiative is a railway from Kazakhstan to Iran, which Beijing has described as a tool to integrate Central Asia with the Middle East. (Axios)

The Rise of China-Europe Railways
Just 10 years ago, regular direct freight services from China to Europe did not exist. Today, they connect roughly 35 Chinese cities with 34 European cities. But despite their rapid advances, these lines must compete with maritime routes that have dominated commerce between Asia and Europe since the late fifteenth century. It remains to be seen how much trade they can capture. (Reconnecting Asia)

First China-Belgium freight train from China's Tangshan arrived in Antwerp
After travelling 16 days and covering a distance of 11,000 km, the first China-Belgium freight train
from China's Tangshan port has arrived in the Belgian port of Antwerp. (Xinhua)

How China is trying to impose Islam with Chinese characteristics in the Hui Muslim heartland
Islamic domes and signs in Arabic are being pulled down and no new ‘Arab style’ mosques can be built under campaign that has Hui communities worried. (Scmp)

Concern in Pakistan over flood of Chinese investment
There are fears in the Pakistani manufacturing sector about Chinese inroads in the e-commerce market as Alibaba gains a large foothold. (Asia Times)

China’s ‘debt-book diplomacy’ comes under fire
A damning report has highlighted 16 countries targeted by Beijing with Pakistan, Djibouti and Sri Lanka identified as the most vulnerable. (Asia Times)

China's Mass Indoctrination Camps Evoke Cultural Revolution
The recollections of Bekali, a heavyset and quiet 42-year-old, offer what appears to be the most detailed account yet of life inside so-called re-education camps. Bekali’s case stands out because he was a foreign citizen, of Kazakhstan, who was seized by China’s security agencies and detained for
eight months last year without recourse. Although some details are impossible to verify, two Kazakh diplomats confirmed he was held for seven months and then sent to re-education. (Ap)
Bulgaria to host contentious China summit
Bulgaria will host a summit between China and 16 central and eastern European countries, stoking fears of potential EU divisions over how to deal with Beijing. Boyko Borisov, Bulgaria’s prime minister, said the so-called 16+1 group, which includes 11 EU members, would meet in Sofia in July, with China on the look out for unfinanced projects to back. (FT)

China, EAEU sign agreement on trade, economic cooperation
China and the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) on Thursday signed an agreement on trade and economic cooperation, the first major systematic arrangement ever reached between the two sides.
The document was signed by Chinese Vice-Minister of Commerce Fu Ziying, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Tigran Sargsyan and representatives of the EAEU members at the Astana Economic Forum that kicked off on the same day. (Xinhua)

CENTRAL ASIA 

Turkmenistan’s New Turkmenbashi International Seaport-Another Link in Expanding Eurasian Trade
Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow visited the Caspian shore, on May 2, to inaugurate the Turkmenbashi International Seaport. The new $1.5 billion facility, Berdimuhamedow told attendees, is important not only for Turkmenistan but the wider region as well. It promises to become an important link in the formation of a modern system of maritime transport across the Caspian. He added that his government is offering use of the port to neighboring countries, including the other Central Asian republics (Regnum, May 3). (Jamestown foundation)

Majlis Podcast: Mr. Mirziyoev Goes To Washington
Shavkat Mirziyoev is making his first visit as Uzbekistan's president to Washington, D.C., this week.
It will be the first time an Uzbek president has been received at the White House since March 2002, when Islam Karimov visited just months after his country had agreed to allow the United States to use an air base in Uzbekistan for operations in Afghanistan. (Rferl)

Trump to Meet Uzbek President, and Press for Human Rights

President Trump will welcome President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan to the White House on Wednesday, part of what his aides say is an effort to launch a new era of partnership with a country that is making its first fitful turns away from authoritarianism.Mr. Trump plans to raise issues of human rights and press freedoms, according to senior administration officials who previewed the visit on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be identified in discussing it. (NYT)

Uzbekistan aglow after president’s successful US visit
But Tashkent will have to do its own legwork in new strategic partnership. (Eurasianet)
Kyrgyzstan man faces prison for Facebook insults
Behind a Facebook argument about architecture in Kyrgyzstan is a knottier tale of rival politics and geopolitical allegiances. (Eurasianet)

Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

China’s Military Base in Afghanistan
Beijing has long refrained from engaging militarily beyond its borders. However, as some recent reports suggest, this situation may soon change. Ferghana News reported that China will build a military base in the northern province of Afghanistan, and, according to the news agency, the Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan is already expecting a Chinese expert delegation to discuss the location and further technicalities for the base. If these reports are true, China will fully fund the new military base in Badakhshan, covering all material and technical expenses, including both lethal and nonlethal weaponry and equipment. (Diplomat)

China denies plan to build military base in Afghanistan

China’s Defence Ministry on Thursday denied that it was planning to build a military base in Afghanistan, branding such reports “groundless”.Russian news agency Ferghana News, which focuses on Central Asia, has reported that China will build the base in northern Afghanistan. The report was picked up last week by U.S. magazine The Diplomat and then in Chinese state media.

Pakistan looks to China after US-India alliance
During the 1960s, Pakistan was China’s diplomatic window to the West, eventually brokering the normalisation of China-US relations in 1971. Today, the physical facet of Mao’s depiction is becoming a reality in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. (Dawn)

Freight trains between EU and China see costs drop by 40%
The overall freight cost of the CHINA RAILWAY Express (CR Express), which operates rail cargo routes between China and Europe as well as other regions, has dropped by about 40% from what it was at the earlier stage of the service, an official from China's top economic planner said on 22 January. In 2017, the whole-year number of CR Express train journeys increased rapidly to 3,673, up 116% over the previous year, with that number surpassing the sum figure of all the CR Express services during the past six years, Yan Pengcheng, spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said at a regular press conference on 22 January.( Global Times)

China's Xinjiang to build 'Great Wall' to protect border: governor
China’s violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang will build a “Great Wall” around its borders to prevent the infiltration of militants from outside the country, state media reported on Tuesday citing the regional governor. (Reuters)

China sells exploration rights for three oil, gas blocks in Xinjiang-Xinhua
China has sold exploration rights for three oil and gas exploration blocks in the remote northwest Xinjiang region for more than 2.7 billion yuan ($422 million), the Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.It said that Shenergy Co, Xinjiang Energy (Group) Co and Zhongman Petroleum and Natural Gas Group Corp (ZPEC) secured the rights after a bidding competition that attracted seven companies.

China's war on smog slows December rail, truck freight volume

Rail freight volumes last month fell 3.8 percent from a year earlier to 303.87 million tonnes, the lowest since June 2017 and the first year-on-year decline since July 2016, the National Bureau of Statistics said.Road freight, China’s most popular form of freight transportation, grew by 5.6 percent to 3.3 billion tonnes, its lowest growth rate since January 2017.The transport slowdown reflects a decline in China’s fixed asset investment, which increased at its slowest rate since 1999 in December, signaling flagging growth in the world’s second-largest economy. (Reuters)

China’s ExIm Bank commits $4bn in push beyond infrastructure
Export-Import Bank of China is releasing a $4bn wave of private equity capital that will broaden the state-controlled overseas investor’s scope beyond infrastructure as it seeks to compete with global funds for diversified assets. (FT)

Japan, China, and the Western Balkans

On January 17, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wrapped up a five-day trip to northern and southeastern Europe. After visiting Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, he went to Bulgaria, Serbia, and Romania. His trip to the Baltic and the Balkan regions fits within Tokyo’s decades-long attempts to establish itself as a global economic and political leader, and to increase its sphere of influence via the use of soft power and the employment of its financial prowess as a diplomatic lever. (DIplomat)

China-Europe trains connect Xinjiang to world

China-Europe freight trains that set off from Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, made a total of 1,164 trips as of the end of 2017. The statistic was announced by Shohrat Zakir, chairman of the regional government, while delivering a government work report at the ongoing local parliamentary session. Urumqi, which saw the start of the first China-Europe train in May 2016, now launches three such trains on a daily basis. The trains can reach five Central Asian countries and 17 European countries. Xinhua

China Piles Up Free Trade Deals as Trump Abandons Them

Just as the U.S. throws up new barriers to cross-border commerce, its largest trading partner China is redoubling its efforts to seal free-trade agreements.From deals with blocs including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to bilaterals with tiny countries like Maldives, China’s FTAs already cover 21 countries. That compares with the 20 countries covered by U.S. agreements. More than a dozen additional pacts are being negotiated or studied, according to the Ministry of Commerce. (Bloomberg)

Chinese contractors grab lion’s share of Silk Road projects

Beijing fails to share benefits of transport infrastructure programmes. Of the contractors working on China-funded transport infrastructure projects in 34 Asian and European countries, 89 per cent were Chinese, leaving 11 per cent from elsewhere, according to the study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think-tank. (FT)

DISAPPEARED CHINESE ENGINEER HOLDS TIES WITH PAKISTAN HOSTAGE
Amid a breakdown in relations with the US and questions over China’s commitment to its Belt and Road investments, the suspected kidnapping of Pingzhi Liu could not have come at a worse time for Islamabad. China has signalled that it is considering freezing further CPEC-related investment until the country’s domestic situation stabilises. (Scmp)

China to establish court for OBOR disputes

An international commercial court is to be set up in Beijing, Xi'an and Shenzhen to provide litigation, mediation and arbitration solutions (Asia Times)

White elephants out but China-backed AIIB still keen on infrastructure with room for growth

The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will steer clear of white elephants but invest in some New Silk Road projects that go beyond immediate needs, the lender’s chief said on Wednesday. (Scmp)

Georgia’s Communists, With Chinese Help, Fight to Preserve Stalin’s Press

The museum – formally known as the J. Stalin Underground Printing House Museum – nevertheless carries on. “In 1991 when the USSR fell apart, capitalists and counter-revolutionary traitors seized this building and threw us all out,” says Jiuli Sikmashvili, the 78-year-old leader of the United Communist Party of Georgia, who doubles as the museum's curator. “For years, academics and men of science worked here and thrived - now we survive on donations from tourists.” (Eurasianet)

Pakistan turns to Russia and China after US aid freeze
Defence minister flags ‘regional recalibration’ of foreign and security policy (Financial Times)

China’s ‘Soft Power’ in Central Asia Both More and Less than It Appears

From one perspective, China has enormous “soft power” in Central Asia, the ability, as Joseph Nye defined it (Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power, New York, 1990), “to persuade others to do what it wants without force or coercion.” It can and does present itself in the region as a non-European state without an imperial tradition—in contrast to the Russian Federation and the West. Moreover, it is capably presenting itself both as a counterweight to the influence of those countries in the region and as a rising power interested in promoting trade and development across Central Asia. (Jamestown Foundation)

CENTRAL ASIA

Tajik President Earmarks Thousands of Extra Jobs for Chinese Workers

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has adjusted the country’s migration quota to allow in another 2,400 Chinese workers, Ozodi Radio reports referring to the Ministry of Labor, Migration and Employment.Chinese workers will primarily work on the construction of the Tajik section of the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline. (Fergana News)

Kazakhstan: Businessman a Hostage in Astana-Ablyazov Feud?
Without warning one evening in November, agents from Kazakhstan’s security services mobbed the parking lot of a shopping center in Almaty to arrest Iskander Yerimbetov on charges of money-laundering. Family members of the 46-year-old entrepreneur have described the operation as a “hostage-taking.” (eurasianet)

Uzbekistan & Tajikistan: Catalysts for a Regional Water Solution?

The continuing rapprochement between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan could provide a boost to regional efforts that address one of Central Asia’s key strategic issues: the sustainable management of water resources.Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has placed water management high on his reform agenda. At the United Nations General Assembly in 2017, the Uzbek leader discussed at length the importance of water in Central Asia (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)

Pechino scommette sulla ricostruzione siriana

Mentre la guerra in Siria è lungi dall'essere conclusa, la conclamata sconfitta dello Stato Islamico "su tutto il territorio" siriano ha già incoraggiato il governo di Damasco a vagheggiare il processo di ricostruzione nazionale. Ed è soprattutto a Est che guarda il regime di Bashar al Assad nella sua speranzosa ricerca di capitali esteri. Lo ha dichiarato senza mezzi termini l'ambasciatore siriano a Pechino Imad Moustapha, che in una recente intervista rilasciata al quotidiano hongkonghese South China Morning Post ha spiegato come Damasco sia pronto non soltanto a barattare petrolio in cambio di prestiti ma persino a utilizzare lo yuan negli scambi commerciali tra le due parti, venendo incontro alle ambizioni internazionali della valuta cinese determinata ad arginare la supremazia del dollaro nelle transazioni internazionali. "Vogliamo siano paesi come la Russia, la Cina, l'India e l'Iran e prendere parte alla ricostruzione", non quelli che hanno partecipato alla guerra (leggi: Stati Uniti e Turchia), ha spiegato Moustapha decantando l'arrivo di delegazioni cinesi "quasi giornalmente": "alcune di loro hanno già firmato diversi contratti mentre altre sono in procinto di firmarli".

Secondo la Banca mondiale, i costi della ricostruzione nazionale ammontano a circa 200 miliardi di dollari, una somma onerosa persino per la seconda economia mondiale, ormai stabilizzata su indici di crescita più contenuti rispetto alle due cifre macinate fino a qualche anno fa. Ma gli interessi in gioco potrebbero facilmente dare "sapore" ad un'area del mondo in passato considerata poco appetibile. Mentre fino al 2009 il commercio bilaterale ammontava ad appena 2 miliardi di dollari - con l'export siriano a coprire solo l'1% del totale - secondo quanto affermato tempo fa da Moustapha alla stampa russa, ormai il gigante asiatico conta per l'80% degli scambi tra la Siria e l’estero. Proprio come un tempo, il flusso commerciale si conferma prevalentemente "unilaterale" perché, se il paese mediorientale continua a rifornirsi di "Made in China" in tutte le sue declinazioni (dai generatori elettrici al materiale da costruzione fino ai macchinari industriali), la guerra ha fatto precipitare verticalmente la produzione dell'asset più apprezzato da Pechino: il petrolio. Sebbene la statale National Petroleum Corporation conservi ancora importanti quote di partecipazione nelle due maggiori compagnie petrolifere locali la Syrian Petroleum Company e la Al-Furat Petroleum Company, la portata modesta dell'output siriano (pari allo 0,2% dell'industria petrolifera globale anche in tempi più prosperi) ha già dirottato le aspirazioni cinesi verso l'Iran e lidi più sicuri.

Si tratta di briciole al cospetto dei progetti a nove zeri vagheggiati nei palazzi del potere in piazza Tian'anmen. Secondo una prospettiva macro, infatti, il tassello siriano si incastra perfettamente nel ciclopico progetto della One Belt One Road, che traendo ispirazione dall'antica Via della Seta, fin dall'autunno 2013, si propone di rilanciare gli scambi economici attraverso l'Eurasia grazie alla costruzione di infrastrutture energetiche, reti elettriche, ferrovie, strade e rapporti "people-to-people". Come secoli fa Palmira e Aleppo controllavano le rotte carovaniere dall'Estremo Oriente verso il Levante, così tutt'oggi la Siria si ritrova catapultata nel grande disegno cinese che lo scorso anno ha permesso a Pechino di diventare l'investitore numero uno nel mondo arabo con 29,5 miliardi di dollari spesi. L’anello di congiunzione tra il Regno di Mezzo e il vicino Occidente sorge 250 chilometri da Shanghai, nella cittadina di Yiwu, nota alle cronache nostrane per la produzione di addobbi natalizi ma ugualmente meritevole di menzione per la sua natura cosmopolita e gli oltre 4.000 permessi di residenza temporanea rilasciati nel 2016 a commercianti e imprenditori provenienti da teatri di guerra mediorientali come Iraq, Yemen e Siria.

Si dice che con "una cintura una via" il gigante asiatico punti ad esportare la sua sovraccapacità industriale. Ebbene, c'è chi, come Damasco, è ben contento di ospitarne una parte incurante delle gravose ricadute della formula “oil-for-loans”, già dolorosamente testata dal Venezuela. E' il premio per aver perseguito la pacificazione del paese arabo trincerandosi dietro il principio della “non interferenza negli affari degli altri paesi”. Memore dei danni provocati dall'interventismo occidentale in Iraq e Libia, Pechino ha sempre sostenuto la necessità di perseguire la risoluzione della crisi siriana con “mezzi politici”. Non a caso, la Cina è stata l'unica nazione asiatica - insieme a Indonesia e Malaysia - a non aver chiuso le proprie rappresentanze diplomatiche nel paese, nonostante la guerra. Anzi. Nel 2016 ha persino nominato un inviato speciale con l’incarico di oliare il processo di pace con un po’ di “saggezza cinese”. Intervistato dall’emittente Phoenix TV, la scorsa primavera Assad ha definito il potere di veto esercitato da Cina e Russia in sede Onu per bloccare l’imposizione di nuove sanzioni economiche contro il governo siriano un fattore stabilizzante e un “bilanciamento politico” contro l’Occidente.

Eppure, anche la prudenza cinese comincia a vacillare davanti alla minaccia del terrorismo islamico. In barba alle tradizionali remore, nell’aprile del 2016 il gigante asiatico ha spedito a Damasco circa 300 consulenti militari per addestrare e fornire assistenza all’esercito siriano, mentre secondo fonti del quotidiano saudita New Khaleej il ministero della Difesa cinese sarebbe in procinto di dispiegare nel paese due unità speciali (Tigers of Siberia e Night Tigers) appositamente per combattere i jihadisti. A preoccupare Pechino è la presenza in territorio siriano di circa 5000 militanti di etnia uigura, la minoranza islamica e turcofona che vive prevalentemente nella regione autonoma dello Xinjiang, nel Far West cinese, e che dall’inizio del secolo scorso avanza richieste indipendentiste in virtù delle sue tipicità linguistiche e culturale ma che Pechino tenta forzatamente di sinizzare. Voci di un’adesione uigura (attraverso la Turchia) ai vari movimenti jihadisti – da al-Qaeda e al-Nusra fino all’Isis – si rincorrono ormai da tempo. Lo scorso gennaio, il Pentagono ha annunciato di aver ucciso un centinaio di combattenti di al-Qaeda durante un attacco aereo sulla Siria. Tra loro ci sarebbe Abu Omar al-Turkistani, uno dei quattro leader più importanti del Turkistan Islamic Movement, la sigla dietro cui si cela il movimento etnonazionalista uiguro inserita nella lista delle organizzazioni terroristiche dal Regno Unito nel 2016. Chissà che prima o poi Pechino non decida di fare fuori gli altri tre


(Pubblicato su Left)

Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

China thinks big in backing Russian Arctic LNG project
Belt and Road turns north toward vast resources and key shipping route.Russia has commenced shipments of liquefied natural gas from the Arctic as part of one of the world's largest LNG development projects, and it owes China a big "thank you."
To read the full sto (Nikkei)

Arctic will make Russia richer with China’s help: Putin

The Independent Barents Observer said Putin made notable mention of China in a four-hour long press conference at the Kremlin on December 14 after returning from the official launch of the new Yamal LNG plant and Sabetta sea port in Siberia.“Putin made clear that the Arctic is a key ground for cooperation with the great Asian power, and underlined that the country “expresses big interest to the Northern Sea Route,” the Norway-based online publication noted. (Asia Time)

US$1.6 billion ship deal will put Russian LNG on fast track to China

A joint venture between China LNG shipping and Teekay LNG has reportedly signed a US$1.6 billion deal to finance six LNG carriers, which will service Russia’s Yamal LNG project.The carriers, currently being built by South Korea’s Daewoo, can operate the northern route from the Yamal peninsula to destinations on Asia-Pacific market without icebreaker assistance, according to the report in The Asset. The first vessel is expected to deliver in January of next year, while the rest will arrive by 2020. (Asia Times)

More than 1 trln USD invested in western China
China has plowed 6.85 trillion yuan (1.04 trillion U.S. dollars) into the development of its western regions since 2000 to help the less-prosperous inland catch up with coastal areas. "So far, there have been 317 major projects...which not only improved infrastructure in western regions but boosted advantageous industries and people's livelihood," Meng Wei, spokesperson with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said Monday at a press conference. In 2017, nearly 500 billion yuan was pumped into 17 infrastructure projects covering railways, roads, water conservation and energy.(Xinhua)

Can Chinese investment help Nepal’s new communist alliance make the break from India?
A coalition of two communist parties secured about two-thirds of the seats in both the Parliament and the Provincial Assembly, Nepal’s two legislative bodies.The large margin by which the communist alliance, which is seen as closer to China, won the landmark polls was widely viewed as a repudiation of long-standing Indian influence in the country and an endorsement of stronger ties with Beijing.
The new government will be formed by the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML) and the CPN (Maoist Centre). Ishwor Pokhrel, general secretary of the CPN-UML said in an interview with the South China Morning Post that the result showed that voters wanted an end to the nation’s instability. “People voted in this election towards political stability,” he said. “This result [is one] which Nepalese people have very eagerly awaited for a long time.”(Scmp)

Cross-border yuan settlement in China’s Xinjiang reaches 39 billion in Nov, grows 50-fold in seven years (Global Times)

AP Exclusive: Anger with China drives Uighurs to Syrian war
Since 2013, thousands of Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority from western China, have traveled to Syria to train with the Uighur militant group Turkistan Islamic Party and fight alongside al-Qaida, playing key roles in several battles. Syrian President Bashar Assad’s troops are now clashing with Uighur fighters as the six-year conflict nears its endgame. (AP)

China-Kazakhstan border woes dent Silk Road ambitions
Delays, high costs and mutual animosity hamper key trade hub on Beijing’s Belt and Road (Financial Times)

Pakistan, China say economic partners till 2030

Pakistan and China on Monday unveiled a long-term cooperation plan in economic development envisioning cooperation until at least 2030 in areas ranging from infrastructure to information technology. (Reuters)

YUAN PROPOSAL PUZZLES FINANCIAL CIRCLES

THE recent announcement by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal that all trade between China and Pakistan will now be settled in local currency, whether the Pakistani rupee or Chinese yuan, has raised some interesting questions. A swap arrangement between China and Pakistan was signed on Dec 31, 2011. The fact that Pakistan runs a large and persistent deficit in its bilateral trade with China means that the supply of yuan will continuously need to be replenished, either through borrowing or through an expansion of the swap arrangement, or a combination of both. Since the signing of the swap arrangement, Pakistan’s bilateral trade deficit with China has more than tripled, going from $4bn to more than $12bn today. Imports from China were $14bn last fiscal year, whereas exports stood at $1.5bn.(Dawn)

Pakistan considering plan to use yuan in trade with China

Pakistan is considering a proposal to replace the U.S. dollar with the Chinese yuan for bilateral trade between Pakistan and China, the English-language daily newspaper Dawn reported on Tuesday.Bilateral trade between the countries totaled $13.8 billion in 2015 to 2016.

Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who has been central to the planning and implementation of China-Pakistan economic ties, was reported discussing the proposal after unveiling a long-term economic development cooperation plan for the two countries. (Reuters)

Are Pakistan, Iran and China prepared for trilateral nexus?

The idea that China, Pakistan and Iran should develop a trilateral nexus seems to be gaining momentum. It is evident from the emerging consensus among the three countries and their civil societies. (Asia Times)

Turkmenistan gas to ease winter shortage in China
China’s increasing imports from the Amy Darya natural gas project in Turkmenistan will further secure supply for China’s residential heating, in an effort to ease the country’s current winter gas shortage, announced China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC).According to statistics released by CNPC on Dec.17, the company’s 101 gas wells and two gas processing stations in Turkmen have kicked into overdrive to increase gas supply to China, while its daily volume of imported gas has increased 5 million cubic meters to 39 million cubic meters for the last six days. (People's Daily)

CENTRAL ASIA

Uzbek leader says he will curb power of state security service 

Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev said on Friday he would reform the Central Asian nation’s state security service, adding that its power had become excessive under his predecessor Islam Karimov. (Reuters)

Uzbek dictator Islam Karimov to be memorialised by British sculptor
The late president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, was widely regarded as one of the most ruthless dictators in recent history. His regime jailed and tortured critics, and massacred hundreds of unarmed protesters in the town of Andijan in 2005.However, despite his reputation, a leading British sculptor is working on a memorial in Moscow to Karimov, who died last year after a 27-year rule over Uzbekistan. (Guardian)

Attacks on Press Freedom Show Central Asia’s Authoritarian Side

In the past few weeks and months, a staggering number of attacks on press freedom has dotted Central Asia, exposing the hypersensitive disposition of the authorities toward critical voices. One of the most worrying cases involved independent journalist Khayrullo Mirsaidov. He was arrested after he penned an open letter to Tajik President Emomali Rahmon denouncing a request for a bribe that he received from a public official. The official denied the allegation and sued Mirsaidov for defamation. (Diplomat)

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

Italy-China in 18 days: a new rail transport service lunched by the giant Changjiu Logistics

The Chinese giant Changjiu Logistics launched its weekly rail transport service connecting Mortara Integrated Logistics Park (Pavia) and the city of Chengdu. The first freight train from Mortara left yesterday morning and will reach the capital city of Sichuan province within 18 and 22 days. Hopefully, in 2018, 3 or 4 weekly train trips will cover the 10,800 km which divide Lombardy from the “Hi-tech Park” in Chengdu, crossing Poland and Russia. The railroad transport service (a cheaper choice than air transport, and quicker than ship transport service), is part of the Silk Road Economic Belt, one of the programs of the development strategy One Belt One Road Initiative launched by Xi Jinping in 2013. (investorvisa)

China’s charm offensive in Eastern Europe challenges EU cohesion

China works full steam on institutionalizing its cooperation with Eastern Europe, building the 16+1 initiative into a platform for its Belt and Road Initiative. The economic reality lags far behind the announcements, but the promise of Chinese investment and the symbolism of the high-level cooperation between China and Eastern Europe are turning into a stress test for EU cohesion.

Belt and Road Now Leads to Every Central, Eastern European Nation

China’s Belt and Road initiative will expand to include all 16 central and eastern European countries (CEEC), Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday in Budapest, as he announced billions of dollars of financial support for the region.The country will sign agreements with Estonia, Slovenia and Lithuania during Li’s meeting with CEEC leaders to include the three countries in the Belt and Road initiative, he said in a speech at the Sixth Summit of China and Central and Eastern European Countries. (Caixin)

Media exports to nations like Nepal form key pillar of ‘New Silk Road’ charm offensive.
China is bringing its soft power push to countries along the “New Silk Road,” casting television shows and movies as its cultural ambassadors.Beginning next spring, television screens across Nepal are set to light up with episodes of “Ode to Joy,” one of China’s most popular sitcom series. (.sixthtone)

Is Pakistan China's Venezuela?

Beijing's frenzied drive to create a modern Silk Road puts Pakistan front and center, much as Venezuela was once a target of lending by China Development Bank as the nation sought to secure oil supplies.Of the $6 billion to $7 billion of current development projects in Pakistan as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Beijing has provided the bulk of financing -- local funding amounts to just $470 million. (Bloomberg)

China Striving to Boost Energy Imports from Turkmenistan

China is expected to be a major presence at the 28th meeting of the Energy Charter Conference, scheduled to be held in the Turkmen capital Ashgabat on November 28-29. Chinese officials are looking to catalyze efforts to secure larger volumes of energy imports from Central Asian suppliers, especially Turkmenistan, and promote projects connected to the $1-trillion Belt and Road infrastructure development initiative. (EURASIANET)

China pledges over $3 billion for CEE investment projects

China will provide funding worth over $3 billion for development and investment projects in Central and Eastern Europe, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday. “Under the auspices of China-CEEC interbank association to be inaugurated today, China Development Bank will provide 2 billion euro ($2.39 billion) equivalent of development financial facility,” he said at the sixth Summit of Heads of Government of Central and Eastern European countries and China.“The second stage of China-CEEC investment cooperation fund has been launched with a capitalization of $1 billion, most of which will be channeled to CEE countries,” he added through an interpreter. (Reuters)

Intercontinental rail freight on track to boost China-EU trade
Three years after the first cargo train embarked on its adventure from Yiwu, China’s most famous commodities center, to Madrid, nine routes to Europe have been established for the intercontinental rail freights, which have become a carrier of Sino-European trade and communication.

Hungary launches rail link tender as CEE-China summit starts

Hungary will publish a procurement tender on 27 November for a modernised railway link with Serbian capital Belgrade to ship Chinese goods into Western Europe, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on 26 November. The tender will be published as politicians from China and Central European countries begin a two-day summit in Budapest, with the participation of 16 prime ministers including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. (Reuters)

Hungary to invest 100 mln euros in China's central and eastern Europe fund

The Hungarian Export-Import Bank will contribute 100 million euros ($119 million) to China’s government-backed SINO-CEE Fund, which aims to raise a total of 10 billion euros, the fund said. (Reuters)

Kazakhstan Presses China On Problems Reported By Ethnic Kazakhs In Xinjiang

Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry says it has held talks with Chinese officials regarding "frequent complaints by ethnic Kazakhs about problems they face in the People's Republic of China."
In its November 28 statement, the ministry said that Deputy Foreign Minister Aqylbek Kamaldinov and the Chinese ambassador to Kazakhstan, Zhang Hanhui, discussed the issue in Astana on November 27.The same day, reported problems faced by ethnic Kazakhs in China were discussed by representatives of the consular services of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry and Chinese Embassy, the statement said. (rferl)

Bad terms: Pakistan’s raw deal with China over Gwadar port
As details emerge of agreements reached, it seems likely China will profit and Pakistan will pay. Critics say Pakistan's bureaucrats have blundered. (Asia Times)

China's Belt and Road sparks battle of the breadbaskets
China's regionwide infrastructure drive is quickly proving to be a game changer in the grain trade.
The shift in the landscape was apparent when the Kazakh agriculture minister visited Beijing earlier this month. "Kazakhstan is willing to work with China and cement bilateral cooperation for common agricultural development," Askar Myrzakhmetov, who doubles as deputy prime minister, told Chinese Agriculture Minister Han Changfu on Nov. 7.  (nikkei)

China pushing billions into Iranian economy as Western firms stall

China is financing billions of dollars worth of Chinese-led projects in Iran, making deep inroads into the economy while European competitors struggle to find banks willing to fund their ambitions, Iranian government and industry officials said. (Reuters)

India’s entry into security bloc expected to lessen Beijing’s dominance: analysts
Li Keqiang could face an unfamiliar set of challenges at this week’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit with India and Pakistan as full members (Scmp)


CENTRAL ASIA

Inside the secretive state of Uzbekistan

The BBC was given permission to report from the Republic of Uzbekistan in Central Asia for the first time in over 12 years.Since the death of the authoritarian President Islam Karimov last year, a cautious programme of reform has been carried out in the secretive nation.We asked ordinary Uzbeks how they feel about the changes taking place in their country. (Bbc)

Kyrgyzstan's Outgoing President Pledges to Continue Playing Role in Politics
Kyrgyzstan’s president has in his final press conference before leaving office dangled the prospect that he may run for parliament as the list-topping candidate for the ruling Social Democratic Party, or SDPK.“I don’t plan to become chairman of parliament or the government, or even a member of parliament, but I will be number one,” Almazbek Atambayev said in his most explicit indication so far that he intends to occupy an important role in Kyrgyz political life (eurasianet)

Kyrgyz-Tajik Territorial Disputes Threaten Regional Stability
After gaining their independence a quarter century ago, all of the countries of the post-Soviet space have had to delimit their borders with each other. Most have had conflicts, but all but a few of those have since been resolved. One of the most serious of the remaining border conflicts involves the state border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as well as the status of an ethnic-Tajik exclave (Borukh) within the borders of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. Disagreements about the location of the border led to an armed clash three years ago (see EDM, February 11, 2014; May 20, 2014). And now, some incautious language by the outgoing president of Kyrgyzstan threatens to reignite an issue local experts say is “a delayed action mine” that threatens not only the stability of these two countries but also of Central Asia as a whole (News.tj, November 24, 2017).

Kazakhstan: Is New Military Doctrine Response to Russia or the West?

In late September, Kazakhstan adopted its fifth military doctrine. The document outlines a shift in strategic thinking that seems, at least in part, designed to respond to potential threats emanating from Kazakhstan’s neighbor and ally, Russia — even though analysts close to the Kazakhstani government argue that it is the actions of the West that pose the greatest danger to the country’s sovereignty. (Eurasianet)

The Resurgence of Central Asian Connectivity
Can the world’s most dis-integrated region rebuild connectivity from within? (Diplomat)

Can Central Asia’s Poorest States Pay Back Their Debts to China?
Despite concerns, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have, so far, been able to manage debt repayment to China fairly well. (the diplomast)

Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

Russia's Rosneft confirms oil supply deal with China's CEFC
Rosneft had signed an oil supply deal with CEFC China Energy Company Ltd, Russia’s largest oil producer said in a regulatory filing on Monday, confirming a Reuters report last week. (reuters)

Cargo train services launched between Hamburg, central China's Yichang
China launches cargo train service between Yichang of central China's Hubei and Hamburg, Germany on Monday. Carrying fresh oranges, medical gauze and packaging film, the train will be on the road for 17 days. (Xinhua)

China and Pakistan agree to push forward economic corridor plan after dam deal scrapped
Analysts say disputes over individual projects won’t get in the way as officials sign long-term plan for US$57 billion scheme. Officials from both sides were finalising a long-term plan to 2030 for the US$57 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on Tuesday as they wrapped up a Joint Coordination Committee meeting in Islamabad.(scmp)

Five biggest Chinese investments in the Pakistan arm of the Belt and Road Initiative

The US$57 billion second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – an ambitious plan to integrate sea and land routes across Eurasia under China’s Belt and Road Initiative – is moving along, guided by a joint cooperation panel’s decisions at an Islamabad forum. (scmp)

Pakistan rejects use of Chinese currency

Pakistan has turned down China’s demand to allow its currency to be used in the Gwadar Free Zone under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor framework, arguing any such move would compromise its ‘economic sovereignty’(tribune)

Chinese premier's upcoming visit conducive to cooperation with CEE, SCO countries

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's upcoming visit is of great importance to China's cooperation with the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries, officials said here Tuesday. Premier Li will attend the sixth meeting of heads of government of China and CEE countries during his official visit to Hungary from Nov. 26-29, and attend the 16th meeting of the Council of SCO Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) in the Russian city of Sochi from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1. (xinhua)

Chinese company starts construction of Serbian coal-fired power plant

A Chinese company started construction on Monday of a new 350-megawatt unit at Serbia’s second largest coal-fired power plant, the first new electricity capacity in the Balkan country in nearly 30 years.The $613 million project is part of a wider deal between Serbia and China that includes expansion of a nearby coal mine and upgrade of existing capacity in the Kostolac coal-fired plant complex. (Reuters)

China completes border disarmament inspections with four countries

China has completed the last round of inspections for this year on the obligation of border disarmament agreements with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, according to the PLA Daily.The newspaper reported that China and a team representing the other four countries inspected each other's border defense forces in mid-August.In 1996, the five countries signed the Agreement on Confidence-Building in the Military Field Along the Border Areas. In 1997, they signed the Agreement on the Mutual Reduction of Military Forces in the Border Areas. The agreements laid down a foundation for the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). (global times)

China says Shanghai security bloc could soon agree on free trade area
China hopes the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) security bloc will soon be able to set up a long-mooted free trade area, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Tuesday ahead of a summit of the grouping in Russia late next week.“We believe that with the efforts of all SCO members, including new members India and Pakistan, the goal of establishing an SCO free trade zone will definitely be achieved before long,” Assistant Chinese Foreign Minister Li Huilai told reporters. (Reuters)

China hints it can rename CPEC if India joins OBOR initiative

The Chinese foreign ministry on Thursday responded to a statement by its ambassador in India, Luo Zhaohui, who recently said Beijing is prepared to rename the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to address India's concerns+ . The ministry neither endorsed nor denied Luo's statement, suggesting that it was encouraging Luo to negotiate with New Delhi over the issue, while ensuring that it did not upset Islamabad either. (Times of India)

Nepal vote set to favor China over India

As Nepalese begin voting in a general election on Nov. 26, not only will they be determining their government but also which superpower -- China or India -- will gain the upper hand over the small landlocked country. (Nikkei)


China ‘to build third Hualong One nuclear reactor’ in Pakistan

China has signed a deal to build a third nuclear reactor in Pakistan, which wants to get a fifth of its electricity from nuclear by 2030. (SCMP)

Syria courts China for rebuilding push after fall of Islamic State’s strongholds
Ambassador to Beijing says Assad regime open to oil-for-loan deals or yuan-denominated transactions as it seeks to lure businesses. (Scmp)

CENTRAL ASIA

Kyrgyzstan: Notorious High-Ranking Customs Official Fired
A notorious high-ranking customs official in Kyrgyzstan has been fired in a dramatic personnel reshuffle that comes weeks after Kazakhstan complained about the volume of contraband goods flooding in from its southern neighbor.Prime Minister Sapar Isakov signed the order to dismiss Customs Service deputy chairman Rayimbek Matraimov on November 23, noting that the official’s action did not comply with government policies. Matraimov, who is known popularly (and tellingly) by his nickname “Rayim Million,” has long wielded substantial influence in the south of the country, which is a conduit for vast amounts of imported wares arriving from China.Late last month, Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev accused Kyrgyzstan of acting as a substantial conduit for Chinese-sourced contraband and thereby causing huge financial losses to the Eurasian Economic Union, or EEU, a Moscow-led trade bloc. Failure to properly enforce import tariffs, which are apportioned among bloc members at pre-agreed rates, cost the EEU around $2.7 billion in the first eight months of 2017 alone, Sagintayev asserted. (Eurasianet)

 

How Turkey, Iran, Russia and India are playing the New Silk Roads
A pacified Syria is key to the economic integration of Eurasia through energy and transportation connections. A stable Syria is crucial to all parties involved in Eurasia integration. As Asia Times reported, China has made it clear that a pacified Syria will eventually become a hub of the New Silk Roads, known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – building on the previous business bonanza of legions of small traders commuting between Yiwu and the Levant. (atimes)

Afghanistan Betting on Transit Corridor to Europe via Caucasus
Eurasia has no shortage of ambitious, difficult-to-implement transit route projects in the works. But even in that crowded field, a $2 billion corridor connecting Afghanistan to Europe via the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus stands out.On November 15, officials from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey signed an agreement in Ashgabat to build what they called the Lapis Lazuli Corridor. The aim of the agreement is to simplify customs and transportation procedures along the route, giving Afghanistan a new, relatively attractive route to ship its products to Europe. (eurasia)

Opportunities and Challenges Await Kyrgyzstan’s Incoming President

Sooronbai Jeenbekov will be inaugurated as Kyrgyzstan’s fifth president on 24 November, the victor of a tight, unpredictable, contested but ultimately legitimate election. The new leader, a loyal member of the ruling Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK), won 54 per cent of the vote and gained a majority in every province but Talas – the home of the defeated main opposition candidate Omurbek Babanov. (Crisi Group)

Iran not to exclude possibility of gas export to Tajikistan

Attraction of investments for the transit of Iranian gas to Tajikistan can be a turning point in improving economic relations between the two countries.This was stated by the Iranian parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, on the sidelines of the 10th plenary meeting of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA), Iranian media outlets reported.Larijani told Vice-Speaker of the Tajikistan’s Parliament Khairiniso Yusufi that investments could be attracted, in particular, for electricity generation and water transfer from Tajikistan to Iran and sending gas from the Islamic Republic to the countries of Central Asia. (azernews)

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.