Opinion | Why Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan’s hopes of using China as hedge against Russia could be doomed
- Central Asia’s increasingly tense relations with Russia have made closer ties with China attractive, but achieving that is not without its problems
- Far from Beijing proving a hedge against Moscow, the opportunities on offer in Russia might simply increase the competition for China’s attention
There are numerous reasons for this, from local hesitance to problems in China, but collectively they illustrate the trouble Central Asia faces as it seeks to use Beijing as a hedge against Moscow, with whom relations have grown increasingly testy.
Both have been appalled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While some individuals within the countries might hold some moral objections towards what China is doing in Xinjiang, they largely see this as a domestic issue within China that has nothing to do with them.
There is no doubt some element of hard geopolitics has also played into their thinking. Both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have expressed reservations about Russia’s actions in Ukraine publicly before and are increasingly concerned about the clear evidence of Russian weakening.
