Text/Junjian
The chaos in Afghanistan has just stabilized, new unrest has broken out in Central Asia around China, and recently, kazakhstan, the largest landlocked country, has erupted in large-scale protest demonstrations, and in Almaty, a large number of demonstrators have rushed into the city government and clashed with the police, and gunshots have sounded on the scene.
According to the Global Network, on January 5, there was an illegal assembly in Almaty, a large number of demonstrators took to the streets, they and the Almaty police broke out into a fierce clash, some powerful institutional personnel were caught and beaten by protesters, the police stopped hundreds of demonstrators with sticks and other equipment in their hands, and expelled them with explosives and other equipment. However, the demonstrators did not disperse, and about 1,000 demonstrators gathered at the gate of the city government and began to rush inside. The doors and windows of the municipal government building were destroyed, some people even broke into the mayor's office, and according to the scene, gunshots rang out during the conflict.
Kazakhstan's turmoil has been going on for days, and since the beginning of the New Year, protest rallies have erupted in the country's Mangistau oblast and Almaty, sparked by discontent over energy price hikes. As planned, the price of liquefied gas per liter in the two places will rise from 60 tenge to 120 tenge from January 1, and the protest rally will soon take place. In view of the grave situation, Kazakhstan has declared a state of emergency in both places, starting on 5 January. At the same time, the Kazakh government has submitted its resignation to President Tokayev, who agreed to the government's resignation and asked former First Deputy Prime Minister Smylov to temporarily assume the duties of prime minister.
Tokayev also called an emergency meeting to demand the control of inflation and involve the state antitrust authorities in regulating liquefied gas and food prices to avoid re-emergence of problems. On the 4th, Tokayev had already made a televised speech calling on the people of Kazakhstan to exercise restraint and calmness and not to be affected by the instigation of domestic and foreign forces; and at the meeting on the morning of the 5th, Tokayev also stressed that the situation had stabilized, but the demonstrators gathered again after noon on the 5th, which meant that the situation in Kazakhstan was once again moving in a direction of instability.
In an effort to quell the unrest, Kazakh law enforcement agencies have arrested and investigated Tulepov, the director of a natural gas production plant believed to have raised gas prices for no reason, and will interrogate him next. In fact, Tokayev has authorized the establishment of a special commission of inquiry to deal with the issue of liquefied gas prices and will meet the demands of the demonstrators to reduce prices, but the demonstrations have not only not subsided, but have intensified again, so Tokayev will mention "domestic and foreign forces", he called on people to dialogue and not be provoked.
Kazakhstan's geostrategic position as the largest landlocked country in Central Asia is important, and the country has maintained close ties with CIS member countries such as Russia and Belarus and formed the Eurasian Economic Union. It is worth noting that the five member countries of the Eurasian Economic Union are also key partners of China's "Belt and Road" construction project, so the stability of Kazakhstan is also of great significance to the "Belt and Road" construction.