According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, mainland Foreign Minister Wang Yi will pay an official visit to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan during his visit to the SCO Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
[Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Central Asian countries]
As far as the United States is concerned, Central Asia, located in the hinterland of Eurasia, is not only Russia's rear but also China's rear area; against the background of the increasingly fierce competition between the United States and China, if it can win Central Asia, it will be equivalent to planting a "remote-controlled bomb" around China, and the United States has put a lot of effort into this.
Since the beginning of last year, a number of senior U.S. officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have frequently visited Central Asia. Last September, U.S. President Joe Biden met with the presidents of five Central Asian countries for the first time in New York. The G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting held at the end of the year was also the first time that the five Central Asian countries were invited to participate online.
With the United States' intentions so obvious, China naturally has its own countermeasures, and the two countries selected for this visit can effectively ensure the stability of the mainland's rear.
First, let's talk about Kazakhstan. As the largest country in Central Asia, Kazakhstan is undoubtedly a well-deserved "big brother" among the five Central Asian countries, and the stability of its cooperation with China has a great impact on the stability of cooperation between Central Asia and China.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1992, the relationship between China and Kazakhstan has been steadily improving, although in recent years, Kazakhstan has shown a close side to the West, but from the current situation, Kazakhstan is clearly more inclined to cooperate with China for two reasons:
[Tokayev meets with Chinese defense minister]
First, China and Kazakhstan are neighbors, with a 1,700-kilometre border, which means that the two countries can work closely together in areas such as logistics, transportation, and infrastructure. For example, the "Silk Road Economic Belt" in the Belt and Road Initiative runs through the entire territory of Kazakhstan, connecting not only China and Kazakhstan, but also Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries, and even Europe. This has obvious advantages for the country in terms of opening up its economy, developing trade, and improving external connectivity.
On the other hand, China is an important economic partner of Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan's abundant mineral resources, especially energy resources such as oil and natural gas, are of great significance to China's sustained economic growth. In addition, China and Kazakhstan have achieved economic connectivity through infrastructure construction, such as oil and gas pipelines, which has provided an important material foundation for economic cooperation between the two countries.
On this basis, the cooperation between the two countries has also achieved remarkable results. Economically, China has become Kazakhstan's largest trading partner, with trade volume reaching $41 billion last year, up 30% year-on-year. Diplomatically, there are frequent high-level contacts between the Chinese side, and last year alone, Tokayev visited China three times, and his 70th birthday was also spent in China.
It is worth mentioning that before Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit, the mainland defense minister, vice premier and other senior officials had already mentioned that Tokayev had a meeting, during which Tokayev said that the most important diplomatic direction of Kazakhstan at present is to develop relations with China; And solemnly promise that Kazakhstan will always be a reliable partner of China. Tokayev's remarks are not only an early welcome to Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit, but also a guide to other Central Asian countries.
[U.S. military exercises in Tajikistan]
Next, let's talk about Tajikistan. As one of the five Central Asian countries with relatively weak military and economic strength, this country has become the best breakthrough point for the United States to "attack" Central Asia.
In order to control Tajikistan, the United States can be described as exhausting means: economically, the United States has given the country a large amount of financial support. According to rough statistics, the Pentagon has provided more than $330 million in military aid to it over the past 30 years. In addition, Western foundations with frequent activities in Central Asia have also provided a lot of financial assistance to the country.
It is worth noting that since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, food prices in Tajikistan have skyrocketed, including flour, which is one of the daily foods of the population. At the same time, the country's currency has depreciated sharply, and a large number of workers working in Russia have returned to the country due to the conflict, and the country's economy has been hit hard. Against this backdrop, the financial assistance provided by the United States is undoubtedly extremely attractive to it.
Politically, the United States has used the "color revolution" technique that it is best at. According to statistics, as of August 2005, a total of 2,914 non-governmental organizations were registered in Central Asia, of which nearly 600 were located in Tajikistan. These organizations are located at all levels of the country, and most of them have U.S. backgrounds and are funded or directed by agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development.
[Soaring prices in Tajikistan]
Militarily, the United States intervenes more directly. After the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Tajikistan, which is heavily dependent on the Russian army, was taken advantage of by the US military, and just a few months after the conflict began, the US military conducted joint military exercises in the country in the name of enhancing regional security and stability.
Under these circumstances, Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit not only reflects the importance that China attaches to Tajikistan, but also shows its strong intention to cooperate and develop with the country, and it is expected that after this visit, the cooperation projects between the two countries will increase significantly. Moreover, compared with the United States, the help that China can provide to the country can not only promote its economic development at the root, but also do not attach any political conditions.
All in all, Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit is a "demining trip", and judging from the current state, the situation in Central Asia is generally stable, but it is not a bad thing to be prepared for danger in times of peace, and we must also be prepared at any time to prevent "unexpected" incidents from occurring.