The Asianist

Previously, I urged in "China's Strategic Direction" (April 15th, 2005, RealClearPolitics) not to neglect the possibily that China's strategic influence may heard "north" to Central Asia rather than "south" to Southeast Asia.

RadioFreeEurope reports that Kazakhstan and China signed a joint declaration on a "strategic partnership" (hat tip: Registan.net):

[Chinese President] Hu is reported to be particularly interested in boosting energy and trade ties as he visits Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan and China are building a 988-kilometer pipeline worth some $700 million to export Kazakh oil to China. [Kazakh President] Nazarbaev said on 4 July the pipeline will be completed on 16 December.

While energy and trade are major topics, terrorism and ethnic-religious unrest also figure in the cooperation:

A likely topic on the agenda is recent violence in eastern Uzbekistan.

Tashkent says the violence on 13 May in the city of Andijon killed 176 people and was caused by Muslim extremist groups intent on toppling the government.

But human rights groups say more than 500 people, mostly civilians, were killed by fire from government troops.

China, Kazakhstan, and Russia have strongly supported Tashkent's position.

Nazarbaev said on 30 June in Astana that states have the right to crack down on what he termed "terrorists."

"What should the state do in such cases?" Nazarbaev said. "The state of Israel, for instance, never negotiates with terrorists."

The SCO, a regional security grouping dominated by Russia and China, includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Meanwhile, members of the SCO are calling for a US withdrawl from the region (hat tip: Registan.net). The Great Game in Central Asia is on again.