Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin pose during a trilateral meeting with Mongolia on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Thursday.
Alexandr Demyanchuk / Sputnik / AFP via Getty Images
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Alexandr Demyanchuk / Sputnik / AFP via Getty Images
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin pose during a trilateral meeting with Mongolia on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Thursday.
Alexandr Demyanchuk / Sputnik / AFP via Getty Images
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is making his first international trip outside of China for the first time in more than a thousand days.
Mr. Xi has chosen the Central Asian countries as his first stop, after nearly three years of strict isolation by the pandemic inside mainland China, and the Chinese leader also tried in the meeting. with Russian President Vladimir Putin towards the security forum meeting in Uzbekistan on Thursday.
Here are some reasons why Mr. Xi is going abroad and things to keep in mind so far:
It is in China’s national and regional security interests
Xi and Putin are in Uzbekistan to attend a meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organizationone security bloc of eight countries dominated by China but includes Russia, India, Pakistan and the four Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union. Iran and Afghanistan are among its observers. The bloc has mainly focused on cooperation on regional security issues, countering extremism and countering separatism – issues China claims are the reason for its crackdown on Muslim ethnic groups. historically in the western region of Xinjiang.
United States Department of State estimate more than 1 million ethnic Uighurs – who have close cultural and linguistic ties to people living in the Central Asian republics, including Uzbekistan – have been detained or imprisoned without reason. legal in China. Among them detained is thousands of the ethnic Kazakhs living in Xinjiang, further complicating China’s relationship with the region. Ensuring the continued cooperation of Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, which shares a long border with Xinjiang, is key to China’s vision of securing its borders and creating a buffer zone. between the country and unstable countries like Afghanistan.
It is to push back “US hegemony” and Western domination in global affairs
While Xi Jinping is isolated in a strict COVID-19 bubble inside China, America’s relationship with China has declined, and the US officials has actively pursued closer ties with Asia Pacific countries and with the democratic island of Taiwan, which China claims control, to counterbalance China’s rise.
After Mr. Xi met with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev last Wednesday, the two countries a joint statement support China’s declaration of peaceful reunification with the island. “Acknowledging that Taiwan is an inviolable part of China’s territory, Kazakhstan opposes ‘Taiwan independence’ in any form,” according to the statement.
Xi guaranteed similar commit from other Central Asian leaders and from Russiaas a diplomatic counterweight to the US approach to Taiwan.
“As Mr. Xi said, we are at a critical juncture in the world order. America is used to being the world leader, but China will not be excluded from the position of great influence. second in the world,” said Wang Dehua. Former Director of the Institute of South Central Asian Studies, Shanghai City Center for International Studies.
China is concerned about Russia’s war in Ukraine, but does not criticize
China invested substantial political capital into one partnership “no limits” with Russia just weeks before Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February – and has since refused to criticize Russia’s war in Ukraine. Now, with the fighting in its seventh month, Russia’s prospects look increasingly slim following a series of astonishing victories by the Ukrainian military last week. recapture some towns and villages in eastern Ukraine.
Mr. Xi is now seeking assurances from Putin that Russia’s war will not further destabilize regional security and economic development. Putin directly addressed China’s apparent concerns in his remarks at the start of the bilateral meeting.
“We appreciate the balanced position of our Chinese friends regarding the Ukraine crisis. We understand your questions and concerns in this regard,” Putin said. “In today’s meeting, of course, we will explain in detail our position on this matter, although we have talked about this before.”
Xi’s trip is also intended to reassure China’s Central Asian neighbors after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
The post-Soviet Central Asian republics were in disarray following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kazakhstan, often a close partner of Russia, even obey Western sanctions against Russia and refuses to recognize the self-proclaimed “republics” backed by Moscow in eastern Ukraine.
Now, Central Asian states like Uzbekistan are looking to China to take a more prominent role in guiding regional affairs as Russia looks more unsettled and distracted by its war in Ukraine.
“Every time Russia comes into conflict with the West and becomes more isolated and toxic, Uzbekistan understands that it needs to replace Russia when possible, and the first country can be China,” he said. Temur Umarova fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
China has invested so much in energy and infrastructure in Central Asia, that Xi Jinping has become the center of a global infrastructure initiative called the Belt and Road, involving The ancient Silk Road automobile routes connected China with Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
Aowen Cao contributed research from Beijing.
