Kyrgystan turning its face to Asia and back to Europe: Kyrgyz press digest

Read it in Russian

“The jubilee SCO summit has set off in Shanghai. Attending the event are the presidents of the member-states Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and, naturally, the host — China. India, Pakistan, Iran, and Mongolia have the status of observer,” reports My Capital – News daily. “Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has met with SCO businessmen. He congratulated all the participants on the formation of SCO Business Council and Forum of Industrialists and Businessmen.” “I am sure that our dialogue today will give us a new impulse for achieving our common goal to improve the welfare of our peoples and to develop our organization as a whole,” Bakiyev said. He complimented the businessmen by saying that nobody knows better than they what problems to solve in order to create favorable conditions for mutually beneficial and mutually complementary cooperation in trade and economy between the SCO member-states. In their turn, the members of the SCO Inter-Bank Association are ready to invest money in the development of industrial projects in the SCO member states and, particularly, in Kyrgyzstan. The chairman of the Inter-Bank Association Vladimir Dmitriyev said that napoleonic plans are already being carried out in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan — projects many big financial institutions are ready to fund: transport infrastructure, water supply and water power engineering as well as processing industry.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch representatives said: “The SCO countries should join the international human rights protection standards” — and continued with a big list of reported infringements and a charge that in their fight against terrorism Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, China, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are grossly violating human rights and the very law on humanitarian development. Whether or not the SCO leaders gave an ear to the HRW’s urgent recommendations remained off camera. Meanwhile, Bakiyev said that Kyrgyzstan will host the next SCO summit in 2007.

“Chinese will become our best friends,” says Evening Bishkek. The daily reports the Kyrgyz MPs to sanction local officials to establish contacts with their colleagues from the Celestial Empire by ratifying a Kyrgyz-Chinese cooperation program. “Our officials and businessmen have long been contacting with the Chinese and hardly need such documents to do that. Simply, China is more developed than we are and is quicker in reacting to global processes. The guiding proverb of the Confucius descendants is: ‘Want to live – learn how to survive.’ And they follow this proverb from their childhood. Now we have got an opportunity to formalize our mutual sympathies on paper by ratifying a cooperation program,” says the daily. To remind, the program was signed in Bishkek in 2004. MP Temir Sariyev says that “there is no getting away for us from our great neighbor. It has a vast potential and a mighty economy. Even America has to reckon with China.”

That country is also a real goldmine of human resources. There are many things we can learn from Chinese, they are developing quite dynamically and their prices are quite good for us. The trade turnover between our countries has amounted to $1bn. The main thing we should do now is to consolidate our positions on their market. We should not forget that they have huge funds: the world’s biggest currency reserves – over $800bn," says Sariyev. “According to Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Alikber Jekshenkulov, in the framework of their bilateral cooperation Kyrgyzstan and China are planning to build a railroad that will connect Kyrgyzstan, China, and Uzbekistan. The MPs believe that this project is good for us. It will make Kyrgyzstan a transit state. Experts say that up to 10mln tons of cargo may be carried via this road. It has also become known that China will shortly grant us 70mln Yuan, of which 30mln will be spent on the reconstruction of the National Hospital and the rest — at the government’s discretion,” says the daily.

“Kyrgyzstan is turning its face towards Asia and its back towards Europe.” That’s how an article in White Steamer daily “Noodles for Kyrgyz Government…” describes Kyrgyzstan’s foreign policy. “The presidential entourage is trying to stir up euphoric moods in the public after a Kyrgyz delegation’s visit to Beijing. They want to convince people that the delegates have done a great job by signing a 10-year economic cooperation declaration with China. Now President Bakiyev is to pay an official visit to Kazakhstan and, no doubt, with the same result. Meanwhile, sensible politicians and businessmen do not share this artificial enthusiasm. The forecasts are coming true. The vice premier is already openly saying: ‘Bakiyev’s visits reflect the country’s new economic priorities.’ Meanwhile, many people fear lest this ‘cooperation’ may turn into an open expansion of stronger Asian states. Unfortunately, this is quite possible. Yet potential, our partners are already trying to press on us.

One example is the selfsame gold recovery projects – new circle of intrigues and new sudden turn. Just from nowhere, Kazinform news agency has reported that the Jeruy mine in Talas region may cause ecological problems in Kazakhstan. ‘The Kazakh standards strongly prohibit construction in such zone.’ You don’t have to be too smart to understand what this information wants to say. Tomorrow, the Kazakh Ecology Ministry and, perhaps, the Government, will lay claims against Kyrgyzstan: either don’t build or pay compensation – for some hypothetical damage. We down here will get into panic and start arguing and quarreling. We can’t stop building, in fact, we have already built, but we can’t either make our strained political relations with Kazakhstan even more strained. So, what should we do? In some 3-4 months, when our government and parliament will shout their throats out, the Kazakh side will prompt them the way-out – ecologists and experts will turn out to have ‘prevention proposals.’ They will say they are ready to help. We will rejoice at their mercy. The Kazakhs will join in the Jeruy project. They will pretend they are reluctant to join but we will beg them and will offer them all kinds of profits.”

“And nobody will wonder how come the Kazakhs have come round only now – three years after the start of the project, when the factory is almost ready. And how come they have a thorough feasibility report on Jeruy. Meanwhile, what they are doing is a virtuous political game. The Kazakhs did not stamp their feet in response to our parliament’s demand to revoke the investment contracts on Jeruy and Left-Bank Taldy Bulak. Why? Why to cry about violated international norms and threaten with sanctions if they can act more cunningly and finally turn the situation to their advantage? And get not only Taldy Bulak, where they are officially present, but also Jeruy, where they are also said to have capitals behind the façade of some unknown Austrian start-up company. This is a very revealing example – and very specific – it clearly shows how Kyrgyzstan is developing its relations with Kazakhstan, in general. What is going on in foreign economy around Kyrgyzstan is natural. In Kazakhstan and China economy is developing by mile-long strides, capitals are growing by leaps and bounds, they can no longer stay within their countries and they need a vent.”

And Kyrgyzstan is a tasty morsel, a virgin land, but, most importantly, not a proud country. It is glad at a penny and will bow for every penny. We are acting as beggars, we are crying too loud that we need investments. We need them desperately! We won’t survive without them! That’s what we said from the very beginning, while we could shift the stress and say – it is they who need our mines desperately, it is they who want to invest money in us – and to get profit from us. We are not standing with our hands stretched, in no way, we are just letting them enter our economic field, that’s all, but our own interests are above all for us. If we could say that, everything would be different… But in reality – Mr. Bakiyev is going to Astana and, I bet, again for investments. And again, it turns out that we are begging them to take our national treasures."

“It is not hard to sell Fatherland for a piece-work pay. But why are we doing this? — in order to show by our economic decisions where we are going politically. Kyrgyzstan is turning its face towards Asia and its back towards Europe. That’s how MP Dooronbek Sadyrbayev comments on the news that Bakiyev has given China the disputable section of the Kyrgyz-Chinese border: ‘Bakiyev has insured himself, at the least, from the east. Europe does not take very enthusiastically, Russia is cool to him. Now he is trying to enlist China’s political support.’ Sadyrbayev is right. For the new ‘White House’ the principle of multi-vector foreign policy and economy is either beyond powers or against the grain. That’s why the country is rushing from side to side as if we don’t know that our active fraternization with China may look much too demonstrative in the narrowly-viewing eyes of Moscow and Washington. Unfortunately, this is just the beginning. ‘The White House’ has already announced its further steps – it will move towards the Islamic world and Arab countries. This will be our foreign political priority – and one more step away from the European world… Honestly speaking, even we in Kyrgyzstan can hardly understand this, let alone, those in Russia or the US. For them our region is a source of political instability. What they want – and this is not a secret – is not to let Kyrgyzstan fall under the growing political ambitions of China and the Arab countries. So, what are our political leaders doing? Some experts say that they are seeking to show to Moscow and Washington that ‘we are going away from you, rush to catch us! Beg us not to turn our back to you! Butter us up with financing!’ What we are doing is a trick that would hardly be called nice or clever in international diplomacy.”