China’s President Xi Jinping arrived in former Soviet Kazakhstan on Wednesday as part of the Chinese leader’s first foreign tour since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Xi is scheduled to attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan during his three-day visit to Central Asia, where a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin is expected.
Their much-anticipated meeting comes as Russia suffers major setbacks in Ukraine, but China remains firm in its support of President Vladimir Putin and a “boundless” friendship.
The Chinese leader’s plane landed in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan around 08:30 GMT and he was greeted on the red-carpeted runway by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Both leaders and their respective delegations — as well as the honor guard, whom Xi met upon arrival — wore masks.
Xi, in an article for Chinese state media ahead of the trip, said Beijing is ready to work with Kazakhstan to “deepen law enforcement, security and defense cooperation.”
He also said China wants to work with Kazakhstan on drug trafficking and transnational organized crime and what China calls the “three evils.”
The Chinese government has previously used the term “three evils” – defined as terrorism, separatism and religious extremism – to refer to its actions in its far western region of Xinjiang, which borders Kazakhstan.
– ‘Mutual respect, fairness’ –
Beijing is accused of arresting over a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang – including some Kazakhs – as part of a year-long security campaign that the United States and some lawmakers in other Western countries have dubbed “genocide.”
China has loudly denied the allegations and says its actions are aimed at fighting terrorism.
However, the culmination of Xi’s trip was later expected in Uzbekistan, where he will meet with Putin, Tokayev and leaders from India, Pakistan and three other Central Asian countries of the former Soviet Union.
The SCO was founded in 2001 as a political, economic and security organization in competition with western institutions.
Prior to the visit, Xi wrote that the group “set a good example of a new type of international relations, characterized by mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation, and proved to be an important and constructive force.”
These comments were echoed by Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, who told reporters in Moscow that SCO members “stand for a just world order.”
“The SCO offers a real alternative to Western-oriented organizations,” he added.
Ushakov said alongside Putin’s meetings in Samarkand this week are “of particular importance” his talks with Xi, which would focus on the conflict in Ukraine and Russia’s growing economic ties with China.
In a separate article for Uzbek media, Xi vowed to “strengthen security cooperation and resolve risks and challenges,” saying Uzbekistan has a “unique role to play in resolving the Afghanistan problem,” CCTV reported.
“Both sides must take a clear stance against any forces undermining the regional security situation,” CCTV reported in writing from Xi.
The ex-Soviet Central Asian region is also key to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a trillion-dollar push to improve trade links around the world by building pioneering infrastructure.
