In Moscow and Beijing in Central Asia, common interests, but different goals

How big is the competition between Russia and China in Central Asia? 

How to change the attitude of Beijing to the region with the arrival of the new Chinese leader, figured out DW.
March 22-24, to be held the first official visit to Moscow, the new President Xi Jinping. Before the visit the experts give different estimates of Sino-Russian relations. In particular, many point to existing at the moment of between Moscow and Beijing in the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the growing competition between China and Russia in Central Asia.



Common interests or increased competition?

German expert on Central Asia Günter Knabe (Günter Knabe) noted that Russia and China had never been friends, and in the future will not be friends. "They have common interests, but mostly these two states are competing with each other", - said Knabe.

"China is important to transform the economic growth in the country as an absolute political success modernized Communist Party (CCP), and this requires energy and metals from the raw pantry - Central Asia" - experts say.

But Russia, which has raw materials, tends directly to increase its political and military influence in the region and keep control of the main ways of transportation of hydrocarbons. "So her rivalry with China will only increase," - said Knabe.
Interests of the elites in Central Asia

The expert of the Russian Institute of CIS countries Andrei Grozin perceive the situation differently. "Probably, Beijing would like to have in Central Asia several fully controlled provinces, of which China will enter oil, gas and metals. But while the Chinese government is a reality in which the present and the Russian interests, and the interests of the Central Asian states," - Russian analyst says.

According to him, "the elites in Central Asia, with all their corruption, attract prospects become governors of Beijing." China avoids taking on a political and, especially, military and political responsibility for what is happening in the region, preferring to leave it to the jurisdiction of Moscow. "Beijing is afraid of torn, engaging both internal problems and reshaping a big foreign policy. Fear of repetition of the experience of the Soviet Union marked in Chinese experts" - emphasizes Grozin.

The economic expansion of China and Russia's interests

According to him, the last decade has shown that China's economic expansion in the region is due to the displacement of Western and non-Russian companies. Chinese business interests do not contradict the Russian believes Grozin. Russian companies have no plans to swing from Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan, tens of billions of cubic meters of gas, but such plans for China, he said. In the mining industry in Russia, too, no big claims on Central Asia, so there is no conflict of interests with the Chinese business.

According to the German expert Günter Knabe, the common concern of Moscow and Beijing - is the security of the region, bordering Afghanistan, following the withdrawal from the country of NATO and predicted there to strengthen the role of Islamic militants. But, as the German expert, there is another geopolitical factor. "Given Washington's declared strategy for the concentration of U.S. influence in the Pacific region, it is expected that Beijing does not want to compete even with Russia in Central Asia" - explains Günter Knabe.

This view is shared by the coordinator of the united Eurasian expert network Jeen Natalia Kharitonov. According to her, Beijing and Moscow, which serve different purposes in the region are willing to compromise on all the relevant issues and to establish a common framework to reduce U.S. influence in Central Asia.

However, Andrei Grozin assesses the situation is less clear. "If Xi is going to Moscow, then it does not follow that Beijing sees himself in the same boat with Russia. Embarrassing the Chinese radicalism of the Russian political thinking, they do not want" or Russia, or the United States. "Chinese prefer formula" and Russia and the United States, "- said the Russian expert.
As for competition between Moscow and Beijing in the framework of the SCO, Andrei Grozin notes that if Russia, the organization was perceived only as the "China Project", then Moscow would block the SCO by creating bureaucratic obstacles, but they do not.

Kazakhstani expert Michael Park in an interview with DW recalls earlier divergence in approach emerged between Moscow and Beijing, around the bank of the SCO with ten billion of capital, mainly Chinese, to finance energy projects in the region.

The Chinese have tried to implement the SCO one "his" project - to create such a bank. Moscow them in this small is not lost. But not in the spirit of contemporary Chinese head punching walls. They just handed out credits, which would give the region in the framework of the SCO, but on a bilateral basis "- reminds Kazakhstani expert.