Are China and Russia planning to build a "New Eurasian Security Framework"?

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After Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to China last week, Chinese-Russian foreign ministers met in Astana on May 20 and emphasized the establishment of a "New Eurasian Security Framework". On May 20, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

This is Russia, which has broken relations with the West because of the Ukrainian war; China, which has broken relations with the West due to Taiwan, the South China Sea, trade, technology, the Uyghur genocide, and Hong Kong, as well as several countries including Central Asian republics, are planning to form a new security alliance against the West? begs the question. It turns out that Lavrov and Wang Yi stressed that "especially considering the structure of the Euro-Atlantic mechanism, it is necessary to establish a new Eurasian security framework".

During his visit to China last week, the Russian president announced the "new era" of the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership with Xi Jinping. Although President Putin said that the Sino-Russian partnership "doesn't target anyone," he criticized the United States and said that "a new multipolar world is forming before our eyes." According to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, Wang Yi stressed the importance of maintaining the security and stability of China and Russia's neighboring countries during their meeting with Sergey Lavrov. Some experts in the United States insist that this partnership between China and Russia is not surprising, and that it indicates that the two countries are moving towards a more open political and economic alliance.

"I don't think this is a surprising development," says Professor Sean Roberts, a Central Asian researcher at George Washington University in the United States. This has been a point of interest for some time. "It seems that Russia and China are moving more openly toward a political-economic alliance." Sean Roberts said in an interview on May 21 that this shows that China and Russia will have more intensive cooperation in Central Asia in the near future.

Sean Roberts says: "In this not-so-surprising development, we can speculate that Russia and China will have intensive cooperation in the near future, especially in Central Asia." "Because China is facing difficulties in political and economic relations with the United States and the European Union."

According to Wang Yi, the closer integration of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is "not only in the common interest of the member countries, but also in the multipolar world." He said that China wants to work closely with Russia and other member states to "jointly guarantee the overall situation of stability, regional security, stability and development." The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which was established in 2001 by China, Russia and four Central Asian countries, has been an important tool for China to control Uyghurs in Central Asia for more than 20 years.

Mr. Kahriman Ghojamberdi, a Uyghur political analyst in Kazakhstan, believes that if a "new security framework" is established in the region, it may put more pressure on Uyghurs in Central Asia. Kahriman Gojambardi also pointed out that China has put the fight against the "Three Powers" targeting Uyghurs in the agenda of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and now it can't be ruled out that it plans to join forces with Russia to form a Eurasian military alliance that includes Central Asia.

Earlier, China's defense minister said that Central Asia is facing a "complex security" situation, and that the threat of radicalization is increasing in the region, and that he wants to deepen military cooperation with countries in the region. It is recorded that Wang Yi told the Russian Foreign Minister in Astana that "the two sides should prepare for mutual cooperation this year, continue to strengthen mutual support, stabilize the basis of cooperation, and maintain the security and stability of common neighbors of Russia and China." Professor Sean Roberts said that the idea that China is replacing Russia in the region's security and that Russia and China have limited cooperation is outdated.

Sean Roberts says, "I think that while Russia is withdrawing, China is offering a useful alliance for the Russians to maintain a certain security framework in Central Asia." Professor Roberts pointed out that in the past people have argued that there is a certain limit to cooperation between Russia and China, but current developments show that this is not the case.

However, Kazakhstan's political analyst Khariman Gojambardi points out that any "new security framework" that China and Russia want to form in Eurasia will further narrow the life space of Uyghurs in Central Asia. It is known that Wang Yi stopped in Tajikistan before coming to Astana and met with President Imam Rahman. According to the news, Wang Yi told the president of Tajikistan that China "wants to strengthen security cooperation with Tajikistan against all forms of terrorism" and Imam Rahman said that he hoped to "strengthen the common fight against the three forces".

Wang Yi and Lavrov's initiative to build a "New Eurasian Security Framework" and Wang Yi's initiative to maintain the "stability and security" of neighboring countries is being presented at a time when China is moving many factories to the Uyghur region and expanding the scale of investment and production projects. In a press conference held by Uyghur Autonomous Region Government President Free Tuniaz in Beijing on May 21, the authorities said that the implementation of such a plan under the name of "high-quality development" will be accelerated.

Professor Sean Roberts said China had previously planned to make the Uyghur region a Russian-based regional trading base under the Belt and Road Initiative, but now it is only targeting Central Asia. Sean Roberts said, "I don't think there is a plan to annex parts of the region (China). I think China just wants to be the main economic leader in the region. He wants to take advantage of the very weak industrial production in Central Asia.

However, researchers say that the "high-quality development" plan in China's Uyghur region has led to the systematization and further expansion of China's state-sponsored Uyghurs' "poverty relief through successful employment" program in the region. In the 2024 human rights report recently released by the US State Department, China says that genocide, crimes against humanity and forced labor against Uyghurs are still ongoing.

Currently, it is known that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin will meet again soon. Russia's "Interfax" news agency said that when Sergey Lavrov met with Wang Yi, Putin said that he and Xi Jinping will meet again in July this year at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Astana. If they meet again in July, it will be their second meeting in two months. When President Putin visited China last week, the two Western-sanctioned dictators announced they would strengthen political, economic, diplomatic and military ties.