China In Eurasia

Welcome back to the China In Eurasia briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter tracking China's resurgent influence from Eastern Europe to Central Asia.

I'll be away for the next few weeks, so this is the last newsletter until mid-October. Until then, I'm RFE/RL correspondent Reid Standish and here's what I'm following right now.

China And The UN General Assembly

World leaders have gathered in New York for the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) under the shadow of global conflict as wars rage in the Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan, and elsewhere.

Here's what's on China's radar so far and what could play out as UNGA continues.

Finding Perspective: While the gathering began with the adoption of an ambitious document called the Pact for the Future, which contains a series of pledges to improve development, fight climate change, and take more sustained action toward ending conflicts -- among other measures -- the mood is not particularly optimistic at the UN.

In his opening speech, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, "Our world is heading off the rails, and we need tough decisions to get back on track."

U.S. President Joe Biden, in his last speech as president before the assembly, called for countries to band together amid the spiraling conflict in the Middle East, Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, and rising concerns about China's growing influence.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in New York as Beijing's highest-ranking official and used his remarks on September 23 at the Summit of the Future to stress China's position as a rival power to the United States and its role in leading shifts to the current global order.

"We need to build an equal and orderly, multipolar world and defend the UN-centered international system. The international order is based on international law and the basic norms of international relations, underpinned by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter," Wang said.

China's top diplomat will also address the General Assembly on September 28.

What To Watch: Israel carried out air strikes against Hezbollah sites in Lebanon this week, which Lebanese authorities said had killed hundreds of people and sent tens of thousands fleeing for safety.

Wang already met with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on the sidelines of the gathering and strongly condemned violations after Israel's large-scale strikes while saying Beijing firmly supported Lebanon.

Wang then said China has been working for peace in the Middle East and will continue to work with Arab countries and the international community.

Things were much more tense when Wang met with his Japanese counterpart, Yoko Kamikawa, where she demanded a clearer explanation of the circumstances behind the recent stabbing death of a Japanese boy in China.

Kamikawa asked that Beijing strongly punish the alleged perpetrator and that officials should also crack down on anti-Japanese comments online. Wang called the attack an "isolated incident" whose motive is unclear.

Elsewhere, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva touted a joint Chinese-Brazilian proposal during his September 24 speech to the assembly that calls for talks to begin between Russia and Ukraine to end the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has already rejected the proposal as "destructive" but the Brazilian leader still said his foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim will seek support for the plan from representatives of 20 countries later this week in New York.

Why It Matters: Beijing has been flexing its muscles at the UN for years to block and stymie Western initiatives as its international stature has grown, and now China is throwing its newfound superpower weight around, as well.

And with Washington taking a more hawkish stance against China in general, and especially lately due to its support for Moscow's war in Ukraine, the dividing lines have only become starker.

Beijing has sold itself as leader of the so-called Global South and through policies like the Belt and Road Initiative has aimed to offer the world's less-developed countries an alternative, non-Western model for growth and progress.

That strategy has led to widespread influence within the UN General Assembly, with strong pro-China diplomatic support coming from African nations, Central Asia, and parts of Latin America.

The current General Assembly also comes as Washington finds itself increasingly isolated from large portions of the Global South over its votes to protect Israel at the UN as the war in Gaza escalates.

Three More Stories From Eurasia

1. Central Asia's Big Project Trickles Ahead

Kyrgyzstan announced it will allocate 11 billion som (roughly $130 million) from its state budget for the construction of the high-profile China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project, my colleague Ernest Nurmatov from RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

What It Means: The announcement of new funds is an important step for the long-planned rail line, but the amount announced still falls below the $573 million Bishkek is expected to contribute toward its share of construction costs.

China announced the project would move ahead during a summit in May 2023 with Xi Jinping and Central Asian leaders. According to the agreements signed between Beijing, Bishkek, and Tashkent, China enjoys a controlling interest in the project, responsible for 51 percent of construction costs. Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan each have a 24.5 percent share.

However, questions remain over when and how Bishkek will allocate the remaining $443 million it will need to contribute for its section of the railway, especially given previous statements that construction could begin as soon as October.

2. Uzbekistan's Cotton Industry Looks To China

Uzbek officials are touting high yields in their cotton fields thanks to new technology and expertise brought from China, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reports.

The Details: Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev said an agricultural pilot program that aimed to experiment with different ways of growing cotton has brought encouraging results, with methods and equipment from China proving to be cost-efficient while still improving the quality of the crop.

The main advantage brought from the imported expertise is water-saving and energy-efficient benefits that the new equipment was reportedly able to contribute.

Uzbek Agriculture Minister Ibrokhim Abdurakhmonov said Tashkent is satisfied with the results of the pilot project and now plans to expand it to cotton crops across the country.

3. More Joint Naval Drills In The Pacific

A detachment of warships of Russia's Pacific Fleet and the Chinese Navy entered the Sea of Okhotsk in the western Pacific as part of joint naval exercises on September 24.

What You Need To Know: Russia said earlier that it was starting the joint Russian-Chinese Beibu/Interaction 2024 naval exercise that would include anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons.

The Sea of Okhotsk in the western Pacific Ocean is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, and Japan's island of Hokkaido to the south.

The exercises follow a round of large-scale naval and air joint exercises in the Pacific and other oceans earlier this month.

The joint drills, which are increasingly taking place in new locations around the world, have alarmed the West and its allies like Japan. On September 23, Japan said Russia violated its airspace with a patrol plane.

Across The Supercontinent

Up and Running: China's Linglong tire factory, one of the premier investments under way in Serbia, is now operating one of its three plants, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reports.

The Homeland: In 2024, 12,325 ethnic Kazakhs born outside Kazakhstan have moved to the country, according to official statistics.

The largest share of those arrivals -- 45.6 percent -- came from China, followed by Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, and Russia.

Middle Corridor Boost: With traffic along the Eurasian trade route growing, Kazakhstan and China are set to launch a new container hub in Aktau, where one of the key ports for the Caspian Sea is located.

South Asian Expansion: Chinese electric-car giant BYD is expected to announce a new manufacturing hub in Pakistan, the Financial Times reports, which would be the automaker's first venture into South Asia.

One Thing To Watch

The death of Liu Wenjie, the finance chief of Hunan Province, by falling has triggered a flurry of speculation in China.

Liu's body was found outside her apartment building in Changsha last week and police say she was killed by two men who also happened to fall to their deaths from the building.

Amid an unconvincing official story for the turn of events, the case has captured the public imagination in China, even as censors work to delete online chatter. The case also adds to a growing list of deaths and disappearances that have set China's rumor mill into overdrive.

Zhu Hengpeng, a top economist who served as deputy director of the Institute of Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) for around a decade, has vanished from public life since criticizing Xi's policies. High-profile cases last year involving China's defense and foreign minister have also captured international headlines and sparked speculation about behind-the-scenes power struggles.

That's all from me for now. Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you might have.

Until next time,

Reid Standish

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Wednesday.

Welcome back to the China In Eurasia briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter tracking China's resurgent influence from Eastern Europe to Central Asia.

I'm RFE/RL correspondent Reid Standish and here's what I'm following right now.

The Changing Face of The China-Russia Relationship

The United States accused China of providing "very substantial" aid to Russia's war effort as Beijing and Moscow wrapped up massive naval and air drills spanning both hemispheres.

Here's what's going on.

Finding Perspective: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told a group of journalists in Brussels on September 10 that Beijing was no longer supplying just dual-use goods that could be repurposed for military use but was now working explicitly to "help sustain, build, and diversify various elements of the Russian war machine."

"We're seeing efforts at the highest levels of both governments to try to both hide and protect certain elements of this worrisome collaboration," Campbell said.

In return, the senior official said Moscow had begun to provide Beijing with access to submarine, missile, and other closely guarded military tech it has historically resisted giving to China.

"The capabilities that Russia is providing is support in areas where previously they had been frankly reluctant to engage directly with China," Campbell said. "We are concerned about a particular number of military arenas where there appears to be some determination to provide China with greater support."

The accusations are the most unambiguous comments yet from a U.S. official about how deeply China and Russia are cooperating militarily and the growing extent of Beijing's help for Moscow's war effort.

Expanding The Scope: The new technologies that Campbell claims Russia is now sharing with China could also have a major effect in the Pacific, which was part of the focus from the recent "Ocean-24" exercises.

The naval and air drills spanned the Pacific and Arctic Oceans and the Mediterranean, Caspian, and Baltic seas while consisting of over 400 warships, submarines, and support vessels, more than 120 planes and helicopters, and over 90,000 troops.

The exercises began on September 10 and finished on September 16.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in comments to military officials that the war games are the largest of their kind in three decades, and that China's warships and planes were taking part. China confirmed this, saying the two countries' navies would sail together in the Pacific, but gave no details.

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said the drills were aimed to train "repelling large-scale aggression of a potential enemy from ocean directions, combating unmanned boats, unmanned aerial vehicles, defending naval bases, conducting amphibious operations and escorting transports."

Why It Matters: Both announcements highlight how the two countries are growing closer and crossing what were once deemed red lines.

This also points to the widening scope and symbiotic nature of China and Russia's ties.

The joint exercises help Moscow's long-cherished goal of building up its bonafides as a Pacific power, and Russia benefits from tensions in the Asia-Pacific because they distract the United States from paying full attention to Europe.

Similarly, China benefits from the war in Ukraine, as American resources and attention are diverted from being more solely focused on the Asia-Pacific.

At the recent Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, both Chinese and Russian defense officials took swipes at the West, with Russia saying the United States was shifting military conflicts to the Asia-Pacific.

There are still clear limits to the Beijing-Moscow relationship, especially for how China has approached navigating U.S. sanctions, but with neither on course to dial back their tensions with Washington, the two countries are set on a path of expanding partnership.

Three More Stories From Eurasia

1. A Landmark Case Moves Forward In Serbia

A Serbian court recently opened proceedings in the country's first publicly documented case of sex trafficking involving Chinese nationals, reports Mila Manojlovic, my colleague from RFE/RL's Balkan Service.

The Details: A criminal indictment obtained by RFE/RL through a freedom of information request says two Chinese women were trafficked to Serbia from China and then had their passports taken away from them, given only one meal per day, and forced under the threat of death to provide sexual services to men.

The indictment adds the two women were trafficked by a male Chinese citizen who "misled the victims" by promising to "find them a job as a masseuse" in Serbia and "provide housing and food" for them. He then forced them to have sex with men shortly after arriving in the Balkan country by threatening "to kill them" and warning "that he is powerful and can do anything to make them disappear."

The Chinese man, who has not been identified, was arrested in March by Serbian police in the eastern city of Bor and began his closed-door preliminary hearing on September 12 after being charged with human trafficking.

The legal case involving Chinese nationals is likely to test the increasingly friendly relations between China and Serbia.

2. China Steps Up Cooperation On Policing

China announced that it plans to train 3,000 foreign law enforcement officials over the next year to tackle global security issues and better protect Chinese interests beyond its borders.

What It Means: Chinese Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong made the pledge in an opening speech at the Global Public Security Cooperation Forum in Lianyungang on September 10.

Wang said Beijing would also send police consultants and working units to countries to help improve their law enforcement capacity, conduct joint patrols and investigations, and tackle cross-border crime.

Central Asia was in focus at the Forum, with Wang meeting his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

"China is willing to enhance the capability for counterterrorism and transnational crime fighting and build an efficient and pragmatic cooperation platform with Central Asian countries to achieve the vision of universal security," Wang said.

The forum coincided with police drills between Chinese and Serbian units in Guangzhou, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reported.

3. Xi Is Going Back To Russia

Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit Russia in October to attend the summit for BRICS, the bloc of emerging economies that has Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as founding members.

What You Need To Know: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi confirmed Xi's attendance on September 12 while he was in St. Petersburg meeting with Putin.

After 13 years without expansion, the bloc welcomed four new members into its ranks -- Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates -- and a growing list of countries, such as Azerbaijan and Turkey, have applied to join since then.

While not an explicitly anti-Western organization, BRICS is seen as part of Beijing's drive to counter U.S. influence around the globe.

This year's summit will be held in Kazan on October 22-24.

Xi last visited Russia in March 2023, and Putin reciprocated with his own trip to China in October that same year. The two leaders have since also met in Beijing in May and in Kazakhstan in July.

While meeting with Putin, Wang said the two leaders will also have a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit.

Across The Supercontinent

Hytera In Bosnia: Sarajevo police have chosen to use body cameras from a controversial Chinese company that is under scrutiny in Canada and the European Union and blacklisted in the United States over national security concerns, Meliha Kesmer and Andi Mioc from RFE/RL's Balkan Service report.

Brasilia Brushed Off: Speaking in an interview with the Brazilian media outlet Metropoles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said a Chinese-Brazilian peace proposal announced last month was "destructive" and "mostly pro-Russian."

Steering Clear: While Putin is aiming to turn this year's BRICS summit into a larger diplomatic gathering that he hopes can show that he isn't isolated on the world stage, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that he will not attend.

Off The Rails: China is no longer supplying Belarusian Railways with 15 locomotives because the trains contain American components that are not allowed to be exported to Belarus and the Chinese manufacturer CRRC is afraid of violating U.S. sanctions.

One Thing To Watch

Former Italian Premier Mario Draghi outlined his blueprint for improving the European Union's competitiveness through closer cooperation and massive investment.

The long-awaiting report on economic competitiveness calls for "radical change" as the EU faces aggressive economic competition from China and the United States.

Speaking to the European Parliament on September 17, Draghi said "Europe faces a choice between exit, paralysis, or integration." He took particular aim at relying on China to supply green technologies. While this might be the cheapest path forward to meet its climate goals, he said the bloc needs a more nuanced response to Chinese state-sponsored competitors to retain its own clean tech jobs.

The former European Central Bank chief said that for some products such as solar panels, where Chinese producers were too far ahead, the EU should let foreign taxpayers finance cheaper installation of cheap energy. Whereas for other sectors, such as batteries, Europe should not be dependent on foreign technology and should retain its know-how, with Draghi leaving the door open for tariffs on some subsidized Chinese firms.

"We do not want to become protectionist in Europe, but we cannot be passive if the actions of others are threatening our prosperity," Draghi said.

That's all from me for now. Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you might have.

Until next time,

Reid Standish

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