In this paper, we explore the third strategy in China’s toolkit by examining the activities of Chinese PSCs in Central Asia, a region of vital importance to the success of the Belt and Road Initiative.
The U.S. is largely exiting the region as a security partner, while Moscow continues to retain a strategic edge over Beijing. But the gap is closing, and, if the trends continue, Moscow may find its influence further undermined in the coming decade.
The Central Asia Protest Tracker (CAPT) dataset produced by a team at the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs mapped out a total of 981 incidents in the five Central Asian republics.