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Chinese have not built this road", a young soldier of the border point uttered his thoughts.
The new pass of "the Silk Route" does not look so much romantic as in the past, but it is a modern speed way. However, this auto-route at once was transformed into a channel of narcotic trade, a way of penetration of infection illnesses and extremist ideologies. China and Russia approve American and European efforts exerted for the sake of stabilization of the buffer zone adjacent to Afghanistan, which is not possessed by Russia any more.
China started to imitate the learned steps of the West in relation to the border missions arranged by ShOS and even made a step forward, having elaborated a strategy of joint management of water resources. The intensification of political, economic and strategic connections goes on daily along the restored parts of "the Silk Route". In this way, a kind of filter is being formed, which delays influence from the North and may help the USA to consolidate its grip on the territory to the south of the post-Soviet "camps", exactly in Afghanistan -the grave-digger of the USSR.
P. Hanna. "Vtoroy mir", M., 2010, p. 140-152.
A. Kurtov,
political scientist
TURKMENISTAN: CHINESE PRIORITY
For the 1990s, China started to pay particular attention to Turkmenistan. The Chinese oil corporation in charge of technique and development started its activities in Turkmenistan soon after its declaration on independence. Since 1994, it established close cooperation and partnership relations with the oil and gas complex of Turkmenistan. The corporation exports to Turkmenistan the Chinese oil
and gas equipment: drilling rigs, elevator aggregates, plugging complexes, drilling pipes, drill bits, fountain armature etc.
At present, several Chinese service centers function in Turkmenistan for the sake of repair, services, delivery of spare parts and many other purposes; all this is of great significance for daily functioning of the Chinese equipment.
Further, the financial ties with Chinese companies were developed. On 20 July 2005, the framework agreement between China and Turkmenistan was signed, and Turkmenistan got the credit for the amount of 200 million Yuans.
For many years, the Chinese national oil-gas corporation as well as company "Exxon Turkmenistan (Amu-Darya Limited" carried out research to determine the probability of implementation of the project and the hydrocarbon potential of perspective Turkmen territory on the bank of Amu-Darya. The project was aimed at finding out the feasibility of construction of the Trans-Asian gas pipeline in the direction to China. The new gas deposits were discovered near Kyzylkum in 2000, particularly on the territory "Garagoy". According to "Exxon", the project could be realized in case of shipment of 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The gas shipped from the Chinese territory also might have contributed to this amount of gas, experts thought. Turkmenistan should have the guarantee of the annual delivery of 33 billion cubic meters of gas for 25 years (including 3 billion for functioning of compressor stations).
In November 2005, president Niyazov promised to ship to China 30 billion cubic meters of gas via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The Chinese factor became one of the central vectors in foreign policy of Turkmenistan since 2006. By that time, 36 inter-state agreements were signed between two countries. In Turkmenistan there were registered
37 investment projects with participation of Chinese companies for the sum of $ 382.6 million and 360 million Yuans.
The signed contracts provided for delivery from China to Turkmenistan of railway cars, diesel locomotives, equipment for textile factories and communication enterprises, which formerly were purchased in Russia. The biggest contract was the agreement with the Chinese company "Capital Long" for the amount of $ 128.6 to deliver railway cars to Turkmenistan. President Niyazov in the course of his visit to China in 2006 confirmed the policy of "one China" supported by Turkmenistan and declared that Taiwan was an integral part of China. Turkmenistan condemned separatism of the organization "Eastern Turkestan". Beijing, on its part, supported the policy of neutrality carried out by Ashghabad. The parties signed even a special agreement on cooperation in the struggle against terrorism, separatism and extremism.
The most significant document, signed in the course of this visit, became the General Inter-state Agreement on Realization of the Gas Pipeline Project Turkmenistan-China and the agreement on the sale of natural gas from Turkmenistan to China. China took the obligation to buy annually 30 billion cubic meters of gas for 30 years from the date of commission of the pipeline in 2009. As a resource basis of the gas shipment was determined the right bank of Amu-Darya, where exploration and extraction of gas deposits should be executed jointly by both parties. However, the agreement included the provision on gas shipment to China from other deposits of Turkmenistan. This provision proved the conclusion on competition of a number of foreign powers in Turkmenistan.
Although the Chinese vector of foreign policy of Ashghabad got additional stimuli in August 2008, nevertheless China occupied only the fifth place in the list of main trade partners of Turkmenistan. This
situation may change essentially in the nearest future. In Beijing the new president of Turkmenistan G. Berdymukhamedov made the declaration about greater capacity of the gas pipeline under construction. In the end of August this decision was fixed by the framework agreement. It provides for raising the capacity of the pipeline from 30 to40 billion cubic meters of gas per year. However, the issue of the price for the gas to be shipped to China remains unsettled. Probably, Ashghabad intends to make the last decision, having used the contradictions among the partners wishing to get the gas. It is not clear whether Turkmenistan will be able to ensure the whole amount of natural gas deliveries to China.
The year of 2009 was marked by a fast step forward of China to the space of Turkmenistan and the Central Asia, in general. The expansion of China was rising for the period of 2007-2008, when the mutual trade of China with Turkmenistan was increasing twice annually. China exported to Turkmenistan the products of electronic, metallurgical and light industry and imported mainly raw materials and agricultural products. The big Chinese companies maintained mutual cooperation with the Turkmen entities in the oil and gas industry, chemical, textile and communication spheres.
In June 2009, the contract on purchase of natural gas by Chinese company "CNPC International Ltd." was signed with company "Bagtyryarlyk" on the right bank of Amu-Darya within the principle of division of production, while the resources would be realized on the border of Turkmenistan by the other Chinese company "Petro-China International Company Limited". The agreement on the credit in the sum of $ 4 billion was signed with the State Bank of Development of China in order to accelerate development of the deposit "Yuzny Yolotan-Osman".
Exactly the Chinese credits became the main reason of the rigid position of the government of Turkmenistan relating to Russian company "Gasprom". Ashghabad needed the financial support for development of new natural gas deposits in order to raise the gas export to China and to increase its profits. China provided Turkmenistan with the financial means and got the essential price reduction for the gas to be shipped for 2010 (the official data is not accessible, since it is the commercial secret); the price of the Turkmen gas for China, according to mass media information, accounts for $ 120 per one thousand cubic meters, for Iran - it is $ 170, while for Russia - $ 190 for the same amount. Thus, the authorities of Turkmenistan abrogated the principle, proclaimed by them beforehand: the same price for all partners.
In December 2009, when the pipeline was commissioned to ship gas in direction of China, the president of Turkmenistan noted that comparing with the year of 2000 the trade turnover between China and Turkmenistan was raised 40 times and was closer to $ 1.5 billion. In the republic there have been registered 35 enterprises with participation of the Chinese capital; and 53 investment projects for the total sum of $ 1 billion and over 1.4 billion Yuans were registered. The pipeline was commissioned on 14 December. By the year of 2012 the pipeline will attain the full projected capacity, according to official Turkmen data. The total length of the pipe on the Turkmen territory is 184.5 km, on the territory of Uzbekistan - 490 km, Kazakhstan - 1300 km, China -4500 km.
Vnesnie svyazi stran Prikaspiya v usloviyah krizisa i interesy Rossii", M., 2010, p. 82-86.
