An article in Jamestown Foundation’s China Brief looks at the relationship between events in Kyrgyzstan and Xinjiang:
There is little doubt that the turmoil transpiring in the neighboring Central Asian republic is on the minds of the Chinese leadership. Following the quick succession of events that eventually forced former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakyiev to flee the capital, the Chinese Foreign Ministry immediately issued a statement expressing that it “is deeply concerned” about the situation and hopes the country will restore peace soon and maintain stability. “China hopes issues will be settled in a lawful way,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular briefing. Additional reports indicate that China is suspending road and public transportation links with neighboring Kyrgyzstan (China Daily, April 8; Ming Pao, April 13; Radio Free Asia, April 13).
The implications of political turmoil in Kyrgyzstan for China are sharpened by the country’s increasing strategic importance to Beijing’s “go-out” strategy. Kyrgyzstan is a key component in China’s overall approach to Central Asia and by extension Eurasia. China and Kyrgyzstan share a 1,100-km porous land border, with two main border crossings at the Irkestan and Torugart passes through the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Trade volume reportedly reached $9.3 billion in 2008, compared to $355 million in 1992, when Beijing and Bishkek established diplomatic ties (China Daily, April 9). Furthermore, XUAR exports to Kyrgyzstan were valued at around $2.97 billion in 2009, and Kyrgyzstan replaced Kazakhstan for the first time as the number-one export market for the XUAR. Kyrgyzstan is also rich in natural resources: oil, natural gas and gold, and could serve as an ideal conduit for Chinese trade (China Daily, April 9).
Yet Chinese leaders fear that due to the large number of Uyghurs that live in Kyrgyzstan (estimates range from 50,000 to 250,000) instability in the republic may spill over into Xinjiang and instigate radical elements in the Uyghur community within its borders. It could also put at risk the vast network of expansive infrastructure (e.g. road, railway, pipeline), which is part of China’s comprehensive economic development extending from Central Asia to Xinjiang.
