A recent report from RFE/RL's Tajik Service, known locally as Ozodi, showed that a Chinese base in the far eastern corner of Tajikistan, near the area where Tajikistan, China, and Afghanistan meet, has been expanded and new buildings added to the complex.
Questions have arisen as to whether this new construction at the base is a response to the recent changes in the situation in Afghanistan or if it is a sign of creeping Chinese penetration into Central Asia.
On this week's Majlis podcast, RFE/RL's media-relations manager, Muhammad Tahir, moderates a discussion on what has been going on at the base and what the changes there might mean.
This week's guests are: from. Washington DC, Nadege Rolland, senior fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research; from Prague, RFE/RL correspondent Reid Standish, who is the author of the China in Eurasia briefing; also from Prague, Sirojiddin Tolibov, managing editor at Ozodi; and Bruce Pannier, the author of the Qishloq Ovozi blog.
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Is China's Base In Tajikistan A Sign Of Creeping Penetration?
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