China's role in stabilizing Central Asia
- Source: Global Times
- [01:22 June 17 2010]
- Comments
After a lull since the unrest in April, violence erupted again in the streets of Kyrgyzstan in early June claiming hundreds of lives.
Amid the fear and terror stalking the neighboring country, the Chinese embassy was swift in organizing chartered flights to bring back stranded Chinese businesspeople and students caught in the crossfire.
China should try, through Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO), to help stabilize the situation and bring order to the strife-torn country.
A regional power with a fair a degree of influence in the region, China cannot limit its role to just evacuating Chinese citizens and offering humanitarian assistance.
The violence in the second largest city of Osh shows no signs of abating. The flood of refugees straining at the southern borders of the country is finding no secure haven to which it may proceed.
The scene of the bloody conflict is not far from China, but just a little over an hour by flight from Urumqi, capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
China should guard against the ethnic conflict between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz spilling over into Chinese territory. A "Balkan" type of crisis would be a nightmare to China.
Both Russia and the US are watching closely the unfolding turmoil.
US Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley has made it clear that Washington supports efforts coordinated by the UN and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to facilitate peace and order.
Though Moscow turned down the Kyrgyzstan government's request for peacekeeping troops, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, where Russia plays a leading role, is considering troop deployment to quell the violence.
Both Russia and the US have military bases in Kyrgyzstan, and the number of their military deployment in the country is of more than symbolic significance.
As a founding member of the SCO, which also includes Kyrgyzstan, four other Central Asian countries and Russia, China can extend the necessary help through this regional organization. Such help may include consulting SCO members, sending humanitarian assistance and taking measures to restore order and normality.
Calling a meeting convened by foreign ministers of neighboring countries is not only an option but could be a first step to signal that China does not intend to sit back while the situation unravels in its neighborhood.
A stable Central Asia is in China's interest. Without any historical baggage of association and inability to influence the politics of nations in the region, China has been quite detached.
But with economic cooperation gaining, whether China should stick to the policy (of remaining detached) and what would best ensure peace and stability in Central Asia are questions that need pondering.
