China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway: Who is going to pay
18 May 2021, 00:49 GMT+10
The elusive China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project has been spoken about since before Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled his grand vision for the Belt and Road Initiative.
The opportunities are enticing. The route, which has been referred to by the acronym CKU, could provide valuable outlets to the Persian Gulf and Turkey, via the Caucasus.
But after a quarter-century of chin-wagging, the challenges remain the same. Difficult and mountainous terrain, lack of money and no clear notion of how to make the railroad pay for itself.
Kyrgyzstan is a big part of the problem. The government is broke and weighed down by debts to Beijing. Fully $1.8 billion of Bishkek s $4.8 billion foreign debt pile is owed to China s Exim Bank. And China is growing leery of doling out more multibillion-dollar loans for Central Asian infrastructure, according to experts.
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The Straits Times
Hundreds protest in Kyrgyzstan after bride kidnap and murder
People hold pictures as they attend a rally for women s rights protection in Bishkek, on April 8, 2021.PHOTO: AFP
PublishedApr 9, 2021, 6:52 am SGT
https://str.sg/JCvs
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A member of Kyrgyz armed forces guards during a curfew after President Sooronbai Jeenbekov declared a state of emergency in the capital and ordered troops to be deployed there, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan October 10, 2020. REUTERS/Vladimir Pirogov
Kyrgyzstan said Thursday it had quickly agreed a ceasefire with Tajikistan after the heaviest clashes in years erupted along the Central Asian countries’ disputed frontier. x
Kyrgyzstan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that a “complete ceasefire” had been agreed from 8:00 pm (1400 GMT) on Thursday, with military forces returning to bases.
The two neighbours have been locked in border disputes for decades and there have been sporadic clashes along the frontier for years.