Towards a new silk road ? Assessing China’s new influence in Central Asia
Practical information
15 years ago, Beijing’s foreign policy started to turn toward its Western border. This has led analysts to ask whether the People’s Republic of China is seeking to redefine the region.
Since the economic and financial crisis of 2008, China’s role in Central Asia’s political economy has become significant. In Xi Jinping’s initiative of a « new silk road economic belt » connecting China to Europe, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan are playing a central role in Beijing’s new economic development strategy. However the boom in commercial exchanges between China and the Central Asian countries is unfolding against a backdrop of high political instability in the region and a shaky Sino-Russian relationship. The seminar will focus on the political issues at stake in the recent Sino-Central Asian rapprochement. Specifically, it will look at the extent to which Beijing has been able to contain the nationalist aspirations expressed by minority populations straddling the Sino-Central Asian borders.
This seminar will be in French.
Speakers :
Marlène Laruelle, Research Professor of International Affairs; Director, Central Asia Program; Associate Director, Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University
Rémi Castets, Associate Professor, University of Bordeaux Montaigne
Discussant: Juliette Genevaz, TransAtlantic Postdoctoral fellow (TAPIR), Center for Asian Studies, Ifri
Chair: Françoise Nicolas, Senior Research Fellow and Director, Center for Asian Studies, Ifri
The report (in French) is available for download below.
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