(Beijing) Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday promised his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rakhmon, to defend the “territorial integrity” of the Central Asian country and announced the strengthening of diplomatic relations, according to state media.
On a state visit, Mr Xi arrived in the Tajik capital Dushanbe on Thursday evening from Kazakhstan, where he attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit and met with Vladimir Putin.
Central Asia is a key link in China’s New Silk Road project, a vast infrastructure project launched 10 years ago under the leadership of Xi Jinping.
Beijing is also seeking to benefit in the region from the fallout from Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which has prompted former Soviet states to worry about a Russia sometimes seen as increasingly belligerent.
China will continue to “firmly support Tajikistan’s efforts to safeguard its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Xi Jinping told Emomali Rakhmon during their meeting, according to Chinese state television CCTV.
The Chinese president also pledged to his counterpart “to vigorously oppose any external interference in Tajikistan’s internal affairs under any pretext” – without specifying which foreign force he was referring to.
Beijing has recently stepped up its diplomatic efforts in Central Asia, a region rich in hydrocarbons and crucial for the transport of goods between Europe and Asia, but also traditionally a land of Russian influence.
“Intimate brother”
Welcomed with great pomp by an honour guard, Xi Jinping on Friday highly praised bilateral friendship during his meeting with his Tajik counterpart.
“Thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, the political mutual trust between the two countries has continued to deepen,” he told Emomali Rakhmon, according to CCTV.
“No matter how the international situation changes, China will always be a trustworthy friend, reliable partner and close brother of Tajikistan,” Xi stressed.
The two men then announced the upgrading of diplomatic relations and Xi Jinping awarded Emomali Rakhmon the Order of Friendship, an honorary distinction given to individuals who have promoted relations with China.
The SCO (Belarus, China, India, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan), founded in 2001 but which has gained new momentum in recent years under the impetus of Beijing and Moscow, is conceived as a platform for cooperation competing with Western organizations, with a security and economic focus.
At the summit held this week in Astana, Kazakhstan, Xi Jinping held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and called on SCO member states to “resist external interference.”