The Chinese launch the new 5+1 format for dialogue with the former Soviet republics in the region. Communication campaigns focus on Kyrgyzstan. The risk of ending up involved in the geopolitical competition between the West and the China-Russia duo.
Moscow () – China is creating a new platform to promote cooperation with Central Asian countries, using the 5+1 format. This was announced at a press conference by Chinese Ambassador Du Dewen in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, adding that preparations are being finalized for the first state visit of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov, who will visit Beijing in May. These announcements have gained considerable interest following the visit of the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, to the region, and that of the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, to Russia.
Zhaparov’s visit will not be the only one. Before the first formal “Central Asia-China” summit, Beijing is awaiting the visit of four presidents of the participating countries. Meetings in a 5+1 format had already been held before, although in a less demanding spirit: the last one was in January of this year, on the occasion of 30 years of diplomatic relations, and at the beginning of March a meeting was held between ministers of Foreign Affairs. In addition, in 2022 a Russia-Central Asia summit took place in Astana (Kazakhstan), and there is also a similar format with Japan.
Now Beijing is trying to relaunch this model of cooperation, as explained by the Kyrgyz international relations expert Mars Sariev: “China wants to achieve a very influential position in Central Asia, and be a decisive factor in the bipolar world imagined by Putin and Xi, between the East and The West… Deng Xiaoping had a similar vision, world balance for peaceful development.” These perspectives promise to recover “great dynamism”, and also aim to resume the Belt and Road Initiative with the construction of the new Sino-Kyrgyz railway.
In addition to Ambassador Dewen’s activism, several Chinese ministers and deputies have been seen in Bishkek recently. During these visits, numerous agreements were discussed, such as the one signed with the new director of the Social Corporation of Radio and Television, Bolotbek Tillebaev, for the dissemination of information of common interest in both countries.
Beijing seems to attribute a crucial role to the information sector in Kyrgyzstan; in October 2022, the OSCE Academy in Bishkek published an extensive and complex research on “Managing Interests in the Western Periphery: China’s Information Operations in Kyrgyzstan”, highlighting the growth of Chinese influence in the sector with “22 information platforms” in the country.
As study author Niva Yau explains, “There is a very active exchange of journalists: Kyrgyz journalists write for China, and Chinese journalists are used by us as influencersto spread propaganda messages between the two countries and throughout Central Asia”. An issue that is in the crosshairs of the Chinese is support for the inhabitants of “East Turkistan”, the Chinese region of Xinjiang, and the Kyrgyz they are more willing than others to support Beijing’s positions on this matter.
In this regard, another expert, Činara Esengul, a Kyrgyz with studies in Japan, believes that “it would be better for the leaders of Central Asia to agree on a common position on geopolitical issues, on relations with the great powers”, otherwise it runs the risk of ending up crushed by conflicting pressures. It is good that they see us as a single region, although there is no shortage of internal conflicts between our countries, and the interests of the United States, Russia and China urge us to cooperate and be more united. However, regarding the consequences, one must be cautious, since the powers are not united when it comes to us,” she concludes Esengul.
After the meeting of Putin and Xi in Moscow, the political scientist Emil Džuraev believes that “the attempt to build a single anti-Western bloc is growing because of the Ukrainian conflict”, and this poses a great challenge for Central Asia: to avoid “converting the big friends in ‘Big Brothers’, starting with Beijing”.
