What Xi’s China will do in Central Asia
Xi Jinping pledged $ 500 million in aid to Central Asian nations. The article by Giuseppe Gagliano
The SCMP magazine reported that President Xi Jinping has pledged $ 500 million in aid to Central Asian nations, saying China will support them to "go their own ways" and defend their sovereignty.
Xi announced aid on Tuesday during a virtual meeting with leaders from Kazakhstan , Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
He said the funds will be provided "over the next three years, to be used on projects involving people's livelihoods," according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The Chinese president has called for more strategic communication to build trust and unity in the region and to pursue "proca prosperity" and development.
He also hit on interference from other nations, saying that Beijing "resolutely opposes the use of human rights as an excuse to intervene in domestic politics" and that the six countries had jointly contributed to ensuring peace and stability in the region.
The meeting marked 30 years of diplomatic ties between China and the five nations since gaining independence from the Soviet Union. The president said Beijing is ready to open its "mega market" to agricultural exports from Central Asia, continue the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project and expand energy and technology cooperation in areas such as intelligence. artificial, big data and cloud services.
With the Beijing Winter Olympics set to begin next week, all five Central Asian leaders confirmed during the meeting that they would be attending the Games' opening ceremony on February 4, according to CCTV. They will be among a small number of leaders expected to attend the event in person amid the coronavirus pandemic and a diplomatic boycott by countries including the United States, Great Britain, Canada and Australia. China has sought closer ties – in areas from security to economic cooperation – in Central Asia, but it appears to be taking a measured approach in a region that is seen as part of Russia's sphere of influence.
Beijing expressed support for Russian-led forces sent to Kazakhstan to help quell anti-government protests sparked by rising fuel prices earlier this month. Xi also supported President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, saying that Beijing has strongly opposed any force that seeks to destabilize Kazakhstan.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/cina-asia-centrale/ on Wed, 26 Jan 2022 08:22:21 +0000.