foir_3880

FOI-R--3880--SE
with system legitimacy. While a comprehensive strategy towards Central Asia is
yet to be formulated, first steps towards forming a new national policy on the
region were taken with the formation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
(SCO) in 2001, still one of the foremost instruments for Chinese Central Asia
policy (Oldberg, 2007).
Second, the western neighbourhood has gone from being a Soviet border area, to
being a region where great power interests meet, compete and vie for influence in
newly independent republics. The region is key in Beijing’s relationship with
Russia. US involvement there has been viewed as attempts at encircling China.
Meanwhile developments in Afghanistan including NATO’s presence affect
Beijing’s ties with Pakistan and the dynamics of Sino-Indian relations. Lately
Beijing seems to have reversed its perceptions coupled to US involvement in
Central Asia and Afghanistan. The US presence is no longer seen as a threat or at
least it could be argued that its actual impact on Chinese security is not as
important as has sometimes been suggested.
Third, as China has risen economically, policymakers have had to address the
regional inequalities manifested in the underdeveloped western part of China.
Trade and expanding economic relations with Central Asian states are becoming
an increasingly important factor in realising the Develop the West-policy aimed
at improving the economy of underdeveloped provinces and eliminating
discontent amongst the population of the poor hinterlands. Energy is a second
interest driving economic policy towards Central Asia as China needs to expand
and diversify its imports. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visited four Central
Asian states in the autumn of 2013 (Xinhua, 2013:1), only 11 months after
assuming the leadership. This unprecedented high level visit underscored the
increasing attention China is giving to the western neighbourhood. During the
visit, President Xi proposed a “Silk Road Economy Belt” to enhance Chinese
cooperation with Central Asia. The details remain unclear, but it at least indicates
Chinese interest in creating a new framework, beside the SCO, to deepen its
economic ties with the Central Asian states and boost regional economic
integration.
Beijing prefers to deal with Central Asian republics bilaterally, like with all other
countries. China, however, complements these relations with a multilateral
instrument of consequence, that of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
(SCO). It is the only regionally defined multilateral organisation of any
importance that China is actively involved in. The SCO was conceived because
Beijing and Moscow saw the need to limit competition and hedge against
contention in the newly formed independent Republics. But since its inception in
the 1990’s it has developed into something more. Apart from its instrumental
value in security affairs, it is a template and a learning field for Beijing’s foreign
policy operators on how to manoeuvre in a multilateral setting outside of the UN.
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