Abstract
The BRI is a signature project for President Xi and may be both a vehicle for Chinese values and the PRC’s alternative political model. It has reshaped China’s global ambition and will herald a new type of great power relations. This chapter will look at the dilemma facing Central Asian states to explore what strategies are available to maximise the benefits of the BRI. It will do this in the context of changing geopolitical and economic considerations. It will also seek to explain why projections about the success of the BRI would be more accurate if they disaggregated the idea of Central Asia.
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Notes
- 1.
Central Asian countries and Russia use a 1520-millimetre gauge that differs from Europe and China.
- 2.
The EEU consists of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia. No customs are levied on goods travelling within the customs union. EEU members impose a standard external tariff on products entering the union.
- 3.
Includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia and China. Uzbekistan joined in 2001, followed by India and Pakistan in 2017.
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Collins, N. (2020). Players or Spectators? Central Asia’s Role in BRI. In: Chan, H.K., Chan, F.K.S., O'Brien, D. (eds) International Flows in the Belt and Road Initiative Context. Palgrave Series in Asia and Pacific Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3133-0_7
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