Paper no. 1190	15. 12. 2004
China: Making Kashgar (Xinjiang) a centre for Central and South Asia Economic Grouping Guest Column-by D. S. Rajan Since June 2004, the authorities in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are promoting a nationwide campaign aimed at achieving economic integration of Kashgar (Kashi), a town known for its historic role in matters of China’s trade through the ancient Silk Road, and eight countries in Central and South Asia. According to the official documents, the eight consist of the bordering countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tadjikistan and Kyrgystan and the closely located Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. Seminars on the theme of  “Developing Strategy for Kashgar’s gaining a central status in the emerging Central and South Asia Economic grouping”, attended by party and government leaders, economists, media representatives and scholars, were organized in Guangzhou (June 29-30), Kashgar (July 20-21), Hangzhou (August 22-23) and Beijing (November 15-16).  The main thrust in the speeches given at the four seminars mentioned above, has been on the implications of Kashgar’s economic integration with Central and South Asia for the security, stability and prosperity of China in general and Xinjiang in particular. Speaking in a geo-political context, the Kashgar Deputy Party secretary Zong Jian alleged (Guangzhou, June 29,2004) that the entry into Central and South Asia by the USA after the September 11 incident on the pretext of fighting terrorism and the consequent growth in the interests of international forces representing Western powers in that region, posed a serious threat to the security of Xinjiang which occupies a strategic place in the North-West and even to the whole country. Arguing that the economic factor plays a stabilizing role in such  situations, he remarked that Xinjiang , therefore , wants to forge  close and mutually beneficial economic relations with   the  Central, South and West Asian countries in order to protect  peace and stability in the region. The PRC’s energy security and economic benefits for Kashgar through its integration , were other prominent themes of the seminars. In this connection, the attending Chinese delegates stressed the importance to China of Central and West Asia, a region ‘ rich in oil, natural gas and other strategic resources at a time when the PRC’s energy requirement is on the rise’. It was noted specifically that linking Kashgar with Central and South Asia both by road and air would enable China to access the emerging vast markets of the two regions.  The absence of any reference in the seminars to the indirect, but firm , linkage between Xinjiang’s economic development including through ties with Central Asia and curbing the separatist tendencies in the region , is not surprising as the Chinese authorities are consistently following a policy which, contrary to facts, seeks to project Xinjiang before the domestic population as a province loyal to the Centre and free from ethnic unrest. The occasions were also noteworthy for their exposure to the strategic dimensions of the  Chinese assessment of the   US role in Central Asia.  On the proposed economic integration of Kashgar with the emerging Central and South Asia Economic grouping, it appears that there has so far been no specific policy announcement from Beijing. However, the involvement of high Party and Government cadres in the promotion campaign indicates that the initiatives, at present only at local   levels, enjoy Central Government’s blessings. To become a Centre for the aforesaid grouping, Kashgar needs more infra-structural facilities, which at the moment seem to be lacking. During the campaign, the Xinjiang officials have demanded road and air links between Kashgar and neighbouring countries and establishment of entry/exit permit issuing agencies as well as visa offices of Central and South Asian countries in that city, for the purpose of facilitating border trade and attracting foreign investment. In addition, they asked for setting up of a Central-South-West Asia University in Kashgar, which can nurture personnel capable of meeting the region’s economic development. In a sign of ambition, they even visualized the ultimate conversion of Kashgar into a Western ‘Shenzhen’. In such an atmosphere, what Kashgar would need is a massive support from Beijing, which, by current indications, is likely to materialize within the framework of Beijing’s Western Development Project.  As far as the Central and South Asian countries are concerned, their principled support to the integration of Kashgar stands confirmed. Diplomats in China representing Tadjikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Kazakhstan seem to  have endorsed the proposal while taking part in the seminars. They were unanimous in assessing that Kashgar’s development would also accelerate the border economies of their own countries.  In the South Asia context, the proposal for Kashgar’s economic integration with the outside world, may be of particular interest to India which, till early fifties maintained a trade mission in that town. It played host to the Xinjiang Governor Tilwaldi and his delegation in October 2004. The delegation echoed some of the themes which came up for discussion in the China seminars mentioned above. Proposals for India-Xinjiang land link, air route ( Delhi-Kashgar),  laying a natural gas pipeline from Xinjiang to India  through Ladakh and bilateral cooperation in  four fields - agriculture and food processing, traditional medicine and herbs, energy and oil production and tourism were put forward by the visitors. India’s Foreign Minister Natwar singh was invited by the Chinese  to visit Xinjiang.  How India should react to such fresh signals coming from Xinjiang?  It would be in India’s interests to act positively in this regard. A major favourable factor for New Delhi would be the eventual opening up of a desirable strategic land link between India and the resource-rich Central Asia through Xinjiang. Secondly, with investor friendly policies now in place in  Xinjiang under the Western Development Strategy , a new and dynamic region in their neighbourhood would be available to Indian entrepreneurs for their activities.. The proposal for oil pipeline from Xinjiang  which has to pass through the  Chinese occupied  Aksai Chin, may however need a cautious Indian approach for obvious reasons. Also important is the fact that same source of Jihadi terrorism threatens  India’s Kashmir and Xinjiang and as such, exchange of experience between the two as they come closer, in tackling the common menace, would be mutually beneficial. Any common perception about terrorism which could emerge between India and Xinjiang out of such exchanges, may even influence the Chinese views on the happenings in Kashmir. (Writer is Research Fellow, ORF, Chennai Chapter. email:dsrajan@orfonline.org )
Back to the top Home  | Papers  | Notes  | Forum  | Search  | Feedback  | Links Copyright © South Asia Analysis Group  All rights reserved. Permission is given to refer this on-line document for use in research papers and articles, provided the source and the author's name  are acknowledged. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes.