China strengthens security and defense relations with the five former Soviet republics of Central Asia

While the leaders of the G-7 debate since Friday in Hiroshima (Japan) formulas to calibrate their relationship with China, Beijing has launched its own message to navigate what it considers a geopolitical chessboard in transformation. "Today's world is facing accelerated changes never seen in a century," said Xi Jinping, president of the second economic power on the planet, during an appearance in the city of Xi'an, the ancient Chinese capital and origin of the ancient Silk Road. His speech has put an end to the summit that has brought together this Thursday and Friday the Asian giant with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, the five former Soviet republics of Central Asia.

Xi's words are almost identical to those he already pronounced with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, during his visit to Moscow in March. "When we are together, we pilot those changes," Putin said then. This time, Xi has reached out to the leaders of the five former Soviet republics who flanked him inside the convention center: their growing coordination is also a recipe for riding those transformations.

The presidents of China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan have agreed to further deepen their ties with the establishment of a cooperation mechanism that will be permanently based in China and bring together the leaders of the six countries every two years. The intention is to forge an "eternal friendship" at a "critical moment in history," Xi said. The next meeting will take place in Kazakhstan in 2025.

The conclusion of the summit, with the signing of what the leaders have called "the Xi'an declaration", and the purpose of coordinating in all kinds of areas – trade, energy, agriculture, education, archeology ... – certifies the good harmony of Beijing with the countries of the former Soviet Union. It also shows the growing interest of the Asian giant in its neighborhood policy in this territory turned into a source of resources, a market for its manufactures and a transit route for its goods to Europe.

China has spent three decades increasing exchanges with the five Eurasian countries and projecting its influence in this other backyard of Russia. The emphasis on the relationship coincides with a time when Moscow, with its sights set on the Ukrainian flank, is losing some of its specific weight in the region. Still, Putin managed to summon the same five leaders to the recent World War II victory parade in Moscow.

The meeting in Xi'an opened Thursday evening with a colorful ceremony of imperial airs. The event took place in a theme park much appreciated by tourists dedicated to the Tang dynasty, which ruled China between the seventh and tenth centuries, often considered one of the eras of greatest political, cultural and commercial splendor of the country: they were the golden years of the Silk Road, the network of roads that connected the Asian power with India, Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe and provoked a flourishing flow of goods and ideas.

The world is different now. But Beijing's message is unequivocal: it intends to occupy a central point in the modern network of exchanges and base its place on proposals of global ambition with Chinese stamp, such as the New Silk Road (the infrastructure and investment program with which Beijing tries to connect the world) and "global development" initiatives. "global security" and "global civilization", all launched in the decade of Xi Jinping in power, and with strong appeal in the countries of the so-called global south.

The president has pointed out the need to join these strategies to build what he has called a "community of shared future" with its neighbors. And he highlighted one of the points that unites them all: "The six countries must resolutely oppose external interference in the internal affairs of the countries of the region and attempts to instigate color revolutions."

In his speech, Xi did not make direct reference to the war in Ukraine, in which Beijing has begun to play a key diplomatic role, with the recent sending to Kiev and Moscow, with stops in other European capitals, of a special representative to sound out the possibility of a negotiated exit. But he did mention issues linked to regional and international security that concern the group of five Eurasians. "The world needs a stable Central Asia," he said in a speech. "The sovereignty, security, independence and territorial integrity of the countries of Central Asia must be defended," he stressed.

The world, he added, needs a more "prosperous" and "interconnected" heart of the Eurasian continent. And also with greater flow of hydrocarbons to his country: the leader of the Asian power has urged that the construction of a new branch of the gas pipeline between China and Central Asia, which passes through Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, be accelerated.

China's energy imports (gas, oil and coal) from the five invited countries accounted for 55% of total trade in the first four months of the year, according to the official newspaper Global Times. Turkmenistan is China's main supplier of tube gas.

During the meeting, the countries discussed another of the possible sources of destabilization in their area: the Afghanistan of the Taliban after the departure of US troops in 2021. "We have to safeguard peace in the region," said the Chinese president, who has offered the Central Asians his collaboration to strengthen their "security and defense" capabilities, support their efforts in the fight against terrorism and enhance coordination between neighbors to promote "jointly peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan."

The meeting, the first major summit held in Chinese territory after lifting the covid health restrictions, is another example of the diplomatic frenzy with which China has awakened from the pandemic and returned to the table of the great powers: while, on the one hand, it accuses Washington and its Western allies (read G-7) of maintaining a policy of "containment and suppression" that seeks to annul its development, on the other, it courts new territories and deepens alliances.

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