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Central Asia

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Central Asia
Central Asia
News from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.
last updated:
27 August, 2024
Taliban vehicles are seen parked during the funeral ceremony of Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani, the minister for refugees and repatriation who was killed in a terrorist attack, in Sarana, Paktia province, on December 12. Photo: AFP
War and conflict

Opinion | Taliban’s promise of security through strength in Afghanistan rings hollow

While the Taliban claims to have improved security in Afghanistan, terror attacks have only continued since the group seized power.

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China-Middle East relations

China warns leaders in Syria not to threaten security elsewhere

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Belt and Road Initiative

Opinion | Hong Kong and Xinjiang could be the core of Kazakhstan’s China strategy

Middle East

Afghanistan’s refugees minister killed by suicide blast

Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani was killed in an explosion at the ministry’s offices in the capital Kabul.

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Afghanistan’s Minister for Refugees Khalil Haqqani (middle) at a refugee camp near the Afghanistan-Pakistan Torkham border in 2023. Photo: AFP
Belt and Road Initiative

Opinion | Why China’s outreach to Central Asia will only grow

Amid increasing investments and a greater emphasis on security, China’s presence in Central Asia differs from its outreach to other regions.

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Belt and Road Initiative

How a new railway will extend China’s reach into Central Asia

The 523km line linking China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan could eventually be extended to the Middle East, South Asia and Europe.

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Belt and Road Initiative

Xinjiang eyes closer ties with Pakistan and Central Asia to offset US sanctions

Far west region boosts role as belt and road gateway by opening Pakistan border for the winter and growing ties with Kazakhstan’s Zhetysu.

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Khunjerab port, the sole border crossing connecting China and Pakistan, will remain open through the winter starting this year. Photo: Weibo/光影小帧
Xinjiang

China seeks to boost energy ties with Turkmenistan

Foreign Minister Wang Yi also said he would seek to boost investment in the country at a meeting with his Central Asian counterparts.

China’s military drills

China and Pakistan talk security as they target terrorism against belt and road

Top Chinese military official meets Pakistani counterpart in wake of attacks against Chinese interests in the South Asian country.

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China's population

China’s border with Central Asia deemed concern amid demographic decline

China’s sparsely populated border with Central Asia, which is losing residents quickly, was named by a researcher as an area not to ignore.

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China’s border with Central Asia, such as Manzhouli Port, has been named as a security concern related to population shrinkage. Photo: Xinhua
Climate change

Opinion | Cop29 can work with the Belt and Road Initiative for a greener future

Aligning climate action with major economic initiatives is essential to cutting emissions while promoting sustainable development.

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Climate activists project a message onto Azerbaijan’s embassy in London on November 7. Photo: AP
Taliban

Taliban seeks international aid for Afghanistan’s reconstruction

Emphasising destruction caused by decades of conflict, Taliban called for technical help and economic development initiatives.

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India

India seeks to boost ties with Afghanistan – is it a move to sideline Pakistan?

Officials from both sides recently met to discuss issues, including enhancing trade via an Afghan port run by an Indian company.

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Environment

Taliban to attend UN climate conference for the first time

A technical delegation will participate in Cop29 in Azerbaijan, according to Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency.

A Taliban fighter stands guard as people receive food rations distributed by a Chinese humanitarian aid group, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 30, 2022. Afghanistan also had the highest number of children made homeless by climate disasters of any country as of the end of 2023, according to an August report from international aid agency Save the Children. Photo: AP
Belt and Road Initiative

Opinion | How do Central Asian countries see China’s Belt and Road Initiative?

As Central Asian nations diversify away from Russia, it’s not a given that China or the EU will become dominant powers in the region.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Heads of State Council summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on September16, 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE
Climate change

Opinion | Cop29 is Azerbaijan’s moment to step into the global sunshine

The UN climate conference will shine a spotlight on the major oil producer’s energy transition, peace efforts with Armenia and geocritical location.

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Global monetary policy

As China urges global financial reform, Global South ties more crucial: analysts

The world’s second-largest economy is looking to balance the scales of international financial governance under a system dominated by the World Bank and IMF.

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China-EU relations

Opinion | China and the EU have a logistics problem. Central Asia stands to benefit

Given the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, a safer trade route might be the one through Central Asia and the Caucasus.

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A view of Almaty in Kazakhstan in 2023. The Middle Corridor, a trade route connecting China and Europe via Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, has become more important as China seeks to minimise risks from instability in the Middle East and Russia. Photo: Xinhua
War and conflict

Letters | Be warned, the pain of war lingers long after the fighting ends

Readers reflect on the scars of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, waste management solutions for Hong Kong and the ticketing scramble for next year’s Coldplay show.

India

India, Pakistan fuel Central Asian arms race with sales to Armenia, Azerbaijan

The influx of military hardware is shifting the military balance in the region, potentially undermining fragile peace efforts.

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Science

China set to conduct nation’s first expeditions in the ‘land of the dinosaurs’

Leading Chinese scientist hopes project will be the ‘beginning of our international expeditions’ after decades of playing catch-up.

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Chinese dinosaur researcher Xu Xing gathers fossils at a field site. Photo: Handout
Crime in Hong Kong

Hong Kong customs seizes HK$44 million of Ice in ceramics shipment from Kyrgyzstan

Haul is largest from the central Asian country in 20 years and for methamphetamine this year at city’s airport.

Inside the 200 hollowed-out spaces in wooden pallets were plastic bags containing Ice, or methamphetamine, totalling 88kg. Photo: Handout
Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan votes on whether to build first nuclear plant

The country is looking to boost its power generation capacity with the construction of its first nuclear facility.

Middle East

Opinion | How a wider Middle East war could bring a world recession

Volatile oil prices, shaky investor confidence and prospects of interest rate increases threaten a global slowdown if Israel’s war expands.

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Kazakhstan

Opinion | Why Kazakhstan is pursuing its own nuclear power programme

The nation has good reason to consider nuclear energy, in service of both its own interests and adding to global climate change efforts.

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A drone view shows domes of the Central Mosque with the backdrop of the Tien Shan Mountains in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on April 7. Last year, Kazakhstan became a net importer of electricity as it struggled with a power deficit. Photo: Reuters
Pakistan

Is Pakistan’s bid to kick-start Gwadar port putting ‘cart before the horse’?

A lack of business activities and poor infrastructure mean the goal of making Gwadar into a shipping hub is unfeasible, analysts say.

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Gwadar port in southwestern Pakistan. Photo: Xinhua
Pakistan

Pakistan’s potential Brics entry seen as benefiting China at India’s expense

Russia’s support for Pakistan’s bid to join ‘China-centric’ Brics could further enhance Beijing’s clout in the bloc, analysts say.

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Russia

Germany’s Scholz seals migration deal with Uzbekistan on Central Asia visit

Scholz will also attend summit in Kazakhstan with region’s five former Soviet republics, which are all heavily influenced by China and Russia.

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