According to the latest news, the time for the China-Central Asia summit has finally been set, which will be held in Xi'an on the 18th and 19th of this month. At the same time, China also announced a bombshell news. That is, the presidents of four of the five Central Asian countries will open state visits to China at the same time, and this stay will be five days. It can be said that in order to stabilize the overall situation in Central Asia, China and the five Central Asian countries have taken a crucial step.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the relevant news
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced that at the invitation of the Chinese side, Kazakh President Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Zaparov, Tajikistan President Rahmon, and Uzbekistan President Mirziyoyev plan to pay a five-day state visit to China from May 16 to 20. As we all know, state visits are the highest level of foreign affairs, and the importance of the four presidents coming to China at the same time is self-evident.
At the same time, we can see that the presidents of the five Central Asian countries attended the China-Central Asia summit, while the presidents of four of them paid a state visit to China, and there was no Turkmenistan President Berdymukhamedov. This may be confusing to some. In fact, Berdymukhamedov paid a state visit to China as early as this year and issued a joint statement between China and Turkmenistan with the Chinese side. At that time, the two sides also specifically mentioned that they should hold the first China-Central Asia Five Summit.
Berdymukhamedov paid a state visit to China earlier this year
For this China-Central Asia summit, the outside world is naturally most concerned about what the parties will discuss. I think there are probably at least three key words running through the entire meeting, namely "security, development and respect".
Let's start with security. The security problems facing the five Central Asian countries now include both internal and external aspects, including ethnic contradictions, tribal contradictions and social contradictions. Externally, the eastward expansion squeeze of the NATO bloc has caused Russia to have a stress reaction, and the once peaceful Central Asian countries are inevitably affected, and they have begun to worry about whether they will become the next Ukraine, and the penetration of some external forces has brought instability to Central Asia.
Last year, there were riots in Kazakhstan
This has led to large-scale riots in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan last year alone. Subsequent investigations found that the two riots had many similarities, both were triggered by domestic contradictions, both had the shadow of interference by external forces, and the situation had deteriorated rapidly in a short period of time. It can be said that the security situation in Central Asia is by no means optimistic.
In the past, it was mainly Russia that provided security guarantees to the five Central Asian countries. But Russia is now a little difficult to protect itself, and Russia is the first to send troops to Ukraine, which has also caused a lot of gap in the relationship between the five Central Asian countries and Russia. Against this backdrop, these countries will inevitably have to find a new way out, including collective security. Although there is already a CSTO, the core of that organization is actually Russia, and the five Central Asian countries may hope to have their own collective security guarantees, and with this summit in Xi'an, all parties may be able to have a good chat.
After all, the CSTO is still dominated by Russia
Then there is development. In fact, this is one of the most concerned issues of Central Asian countries, because the significance of development to national and regional stability is clear to all parties. And around this region, it is mainly China that has the ability to drive the development of Central Asian countries. At the recent Fourth China-Central Asia Foreign Ministers' Meeting, all parties reached agreement on agriculture, new energy, e-commerce and other fields, striving to create a better regional development trend. Therefore, we can reasonably predict that development will become one of the key topics of this China-Central Asia summit.
Finally, there is respect. China is a big country, so we often don't feel very deeply about these two words, but the five Central Asian countries, as small countries caught in the geopolitical pattern, have a very clear need for respect. For a long time, Russia has regarded Central Asia as its sphere of influence, and in many cases has not shown reciprocal attitude towards these countries. Just like the China-Kyrgyzstan-Ukraine railway, it was obviously proposed in the last century, but under Russia's opposition, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine can only give up. Tajik President Rahmon also told Putin in person at the CIS summit that Russia did not show due respect for Central Asian countries.
Tajik President Rahmon believes that Russia does not respect them
In today's international situation, these countries want more respect and more independent status, and all this China can give. China has always adhered to the five principles of independent diplomacy and peaceful coexistence, and will not be the boss or even interfere in other countries' internal affairs. This is precisely what the five Central Asian countries need most at present, so we can find that the relations between the five Central Asian countries and China have developed rapidly in recent years, which is the embodiment of our diplomatic achievements.
In general, in order to stabilize the overall situation in Central Asia, China has reached a crucial step. If our rear can settle down, it will have positive significance for the overall strategy of the mainland. If this vast land can develop, it may also become a new market for us and bring new opportunities for our development.