China taking a lead in the New Great Game – Part 2

The five CAS states, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, have huge hydrocarbon reserves which China and other global powers want a piece of.

Much of China’s foreign policy complements Gorbachev’s “Perestroika” (restructuring) and “Glasnost” (opening up) principles – an ideology that took practical meaning under the tutelage of Deng Xiao Ping.

This major shift in ideology saw PRC welcome Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as the nation became more pragmatic and open to new notions.

There’s no repudiating the fact that China itself has huge resources. However, with the way its economy is growing, China cannot exclusively rely on its own resources.

In order to maintain its economic growth, China already has numerous contracts in Latin America, Asia and Africa.

CAS holds a lot of importance to PRC which is why it seeks to keep the region stable and free from conflict which could jeopardize China’s big plans.

Kazakhstan possesses oil, gas, coal, iron, zinc and numerous other metal resources which has called for China to maintain and further strengthen its relations with the country.

As India falls down the pecking order and is consigned to a mere observer in this New Great Game, China has become Russia’s biggest challenger in this quest for gaining a stranglehold on the Central Asia States who are still endeavoring to become major players
in world economy.

Many mergers and acquisitions have taken place between China and various energy sector firms in CAS which shows that PRC has indeed taken a big lead over the rest of the countries involved in the New Great Game.

Most important are the oil fields that China National Petroleum Company bought in Kazakhstan for approximately US$5 billion. On top of that, China has closed in on several construction agreements with Kazakhstan to build pipelines to an estimated cost of
US$9 billion

Kyrgyzstan is now seen as an important strategic base by PRC.

Under the Soviet Regime, all of the Central Asian State’s foreign policy was more or less Moscow-oriented. Now, these states are looking to branch out their relations with other countries. China, in a bid to take things to the next level, is assisting these
states cause by overseeing their development. China is helping these countries develop their roads in order to pave way for trade.

Furthermore, China is also looking to grab hold of each lose energy deposit that is yet to be chartered.

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Posted by Taimoor Tariq on Aug 2 2012. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry