Suchergebnisse

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was established in 1996 as a joint response from China, Russia and the three Central Asian republics to growing threats to international security in the Central Asia region. Over the next two decades, the SCO has not only become an important guarantor of security and inter-state dialogue in the region but has also created a number of internal institutions specializing in, i.a. economic and energy cooperation. From the very beginning of its existence, China was its main patron and a strong supporter of tightening cooperation and expanding the organization to include more member states. China was also the author of the SCO rhetoric regarding the New Silk Road, which since 2013 has also become the leitmotif of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) established by China to develop economic cooperation with Asian and European countries. The main research issue of this paper is an answer to the question of how SCO has changed under the influence of the BRI. This problem will be analysed through two lenses: how has the Belt and Path Initiative influenced the direction of SCO development? And what effect does the rhetoric of the Silk Road have on international assessment of the SCO activities?

The year 2020 marked a change in Kazakhstan's approach to Kazakh asylum seekers from China. For the first time, ethnic Kazakhs escaping China's security and ethnic policy apparatus in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR; Xinjiang) were granted a right to a temporary stay in the country. The status was valid for one year only, yet it was a significant improvement as until 2020 similar cases were lost in Kazakh courts. This change was possible due to the international advocacy of local Kazakh human rights activists, the growing international recognition of the Xinjiang issue by the West, and the ambitions of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who has been developing his own style of the presidency with social issues as its centrepiece. The purpose of this article is to assess Tokayev's approach to Xinjiang as a human rights issue in the context of his domestic and foreign policies. This article argues that despite the initial improvement in how the country dealt with asylum seekers from China, the situation of both human rights activists and refugees has deteriorated, forcing them to seek shelter in a third country. The article also finds that Kazakhstan's foreign policy under Tokayev has been increasingly China-oriented, prioritizing economic and political relations with Beijing over those with the West. This approach immediately affects Tokayev's strategies towards anti-Chinese activists and asylum seekers from China; it also has a long-lasting effect on the country declarative multi-vectoral and Eurasian foreign policy outlook. (Asian Aff/GIGA)

The article explores the political and diplomatic response from Kazakh and Kyrgyz governments towards China regarding its post-2014 Xinjiang security strategy. The policy, which includes repressive measures against Xinjiang Muslim minorities, has led to the detention of a significant number of ethnic Kazakh and Kyrgyz, thus calling for a reaction from their kin states. In order to explain the complexity of the problem, the article looks via a neorealist lens at the role of Kazakh and Kyrgyz human rights advocacy groups in urging local authorities to securely release ethnic Kazakh and Kyrgyz detained in Xinjiang's "vocational camps". It further explores official responses from Kazakh and Kyrgyz governments, identifying their considerations and foreign policy choices. This article concludes that Kazakh and Kyrgyz governments neither possess economic and political leverage to press on China over the Xinjiang issue nor are they willing to do so as this may jeopardize their cooperation with China. (Asian Aff/GIGA)