94
tions; while the steady rise of China’s economy throughout this period—as well as
continuous tension with its Uighur Turkish minority—brought the region’s
resources, geographical proximity, and potential for security cooperation to
Beijing’s attention (www.foreignaffairs.com 2017a, b, c).
Mehmet Ogutcu believes that China’s “Peaceful Rise” strategy worked wonders
over this period. Peaceful Rice is set to continue until 2050. China has become
strong and developed a sphere of influence in the region under this policy, not to
mention becoming arguably the world’s biggest beneficiary of globalization (www.
yenisafak.com 2017). The latter is not lost on Chinese policymakers, as evidenced
by the strong stance Xi Jinxing has taken publicly against rising economic nationalism, protectionism, and protest movements in the developed world.
As China’s part in the Great Game, the One Belt One Road strategy is a tremendous undertaking and progressing quietly. The plan’s huge infrastructure investments of $80–90 billion each year are enticing observers. The plan is to create an
overland link between China and Europe (www.yenisafak.com, 2017). Another
important step for China is the Pakistani economic corridor. The port of Gwadar is
a deep-water port in the heart of the Arabian Sea. From here, the plan is to extend
an economic belt to Xinjiang. China has attached a pledge of $55 billion to the
project, along with security promises to Pakistan taking advantage of the United
States’ cooling of relations with the country in favor of India (www.yenisafak.
com 2017).
In any case, China’s expansion into Central Asia is only natural given its economic rise, especially with little room to dislodge US supremacy in the Pacific. The
Obama administration’s diplomatic shift to Asia reflected its concern that China’s
rise would encourage the country to act contrary to regional stability and act against
US allies in the region. This perception of China’s rise mirrored its growing economic power in Asia. Hence US interest in the TPP. The New Silk Road initiative
was simply one example of many showing China’s boosted interest in expanding its
economic penetration of Asia thus eliciting a US response (Author’s interview with
Ambassador Robert S. Ross 2017).
With huge financial resources and all the political clout of a government interested in increasing investment in the region, there is little to suggest that China’s
announced interests may come to naught; after all, the potential advantages for both
parties make further cooperation almost irresistible and potential issues are slim:
The borders are settled, so there are no sovereignty issues between these countries;
the US is no longer a military player in the region; and there are no Taiwanese or
Japanese interests to come up against. In fact, the only concern from a strategic
point of view is Russia, but according to Professor Robert Sutter, China is quite
happy to balance regional interests in a way which tries to avoid angering Russia, as
the current situation is the best possible direction for growth within China’s peaceful expansion strategy:
And so if you look at how China should extend its influence in the world, Central Asia is the
best bet… if they didn’t have all these other obstacles like border disputes and US concerns
as with Taiwan, then this is what they would do in other parts of the world. But they can’t
3 International Context of the New Era and the Caspian Sea Region
tions; while the steady rise of China’s economy throughout this period—as well as
continuous tension with its Uighur Turkish minority—brought the region’s
resources, geographical proximity, and potential for security cooperation to
Beijing’s attention (www.foreignaffairs.com 2017a, b, c).
Mehmet Ogutcu believes that China’s “Peaceful Rise” strategy worked wonders
over this period. Peaceful Rice is set to continue until 2050. China has become
strong and developed a sphere of influence in the region under this policy, not to
mention becoming arguably the world’s biggest beneficiary of globalization (www.
yenisafak.com 2017). The latter is not lost on Chinese policymakers, as evidenced
by the strong stance Xi Jinxing has taken publicly against rising economic nationalism, protectionism, and protest movements in the developed world.
As China’s part in the Great Game, the One Belt One Road strategy is a tremendous undertaking and progressing quietly. The plan’s huge infrastructure investments of $80–90 billion each year are enticing observers. The plan is to create an
overland link between China and Europe (www.yenisafak.com, 2017). Another
important step for China is the Pakistani economic corridor. The port of Gwadar is
a deep-water port in the heart of the Arabian Sea. From here, the plan is to extend
an economic belt to Xinjiang. China has attached a pledge of $55 billion to the
project, along with security promises to Pakistan taking advantage of the United
States’ cooling of relations with the country in favor of India (www.yenisafak.
com 2017).
In any case, China’s expansion into Central Asia is only natural given its economic rise, especially with little room to dislodge US supremacy in the Pacific. The
Obama administration’s diplomatic shift to Asia reflected its concern that China’s
rise would encourage the country to act contrary to regional stability and act against
US allies in the region. This perception of China’s rise mirrored its growing economic power in Asia. Hence US interest in the TPP. The New Silk Road initiative
was simply one example of many showing China’s boosted interest in expanding its
economic penetration of Asia thus eliciting a US response (Author’s interview with
Ambassador Robert S. Ross 2017).
With huge financial resources and all the political clout of a government interested in increasing investment in the region, there is little to suggest that China’s
announced interests may come to naught; after all, the potential advantages for both
parties make further cooperation almost irresistible and potential issues are slim:
The borders are settled, so there are no sovereignty issues between these countries;
the US is no longer a military player in the region; and there are no Taiwanese or
Japanese interests to come up against. In fact, the only concern from a strategic
point of view is Russia, but according to Professor Robert Sutter, China is quite
happy to balance regional interests in a way which tries to avoid angering Russia, as
the current situation is the best possible direction for growth within China’s peaceful expansion strategy:
And so if you look at how China should extend its influence in the world, Central Asia is the
best bet… if they didn’t have all these other obstacles like border disputes and US concerns
as with Taiwan, then this is what they would do in other parts of the world. But they can’t
3 International Context of the New Era and the Caspian Sea Region