The Gazette of Central Asia

China's Silk Road Economic Belt

Zhang Hongzhou — 2018-11-12T15:57:03Z

The Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) initiative faces huge geopolitical challenges in Central Asia. How will China respond to reduce the concerns of the Central Asia states as well as Russia? This article is co-authored with Arthur Guschin. The Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) initiative put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his Central Asia visits in September 2013 is considered as one of the two diplomatic initiatives by the new Chinese leadership, with Central Asia the (...)

- Misc / China, Map, Belt and Road Initiative

China Struggles with Belt and Road Pushback

James M. DORSEY — 2018-09-17T16:21:33Z

China, in an implicit recognition that at least some of its Belt and Road-related projects risk trapping target countries in debt or fail to meet their needs, has conceded that adjustments may be necessary. A podcast version of this story is available on SoundCloud. “It's normal and understandable that development focus can change at different stages in different countries, especially with changes in government. So China can also make some strategic adjustments when cooperating with these (...)

- Misc / China, Audio, Graph, Belt and Road Initiative

Securing Xinjiang

James M. DORSEY — 2018-07-28T16:33:23Z

China appears to be shifting gears in its multi-billion dollar Belt and Road initiative. Long projected as driven by economics and the benefit of infrastructure linkages, China appears to be increasingly adding a security component to the initiative against the backdrop of President Xi Jinping positioning of his country as a superpower rather than a developing nation. The emergence of a security component is not only highlighted by the establishment last year of China's first foreign (...)

- Misc / China, Map, Belt and Road Initiative, Uyghurs