China Challenges Russia’s Arms Dominance in Central Asia
Tankers Wait a Month as Venezuela Hits an Oil Export Ceiling Eurasianet is an independent news organization that covers news from and about the South Caucasus and Central Asia, providing on-the-ground reporting and critical perspectives on… China is challenging Russia’s stranglehold on Central Asia’s arms market.
Uzbekistan appears to have taken delivery of four PRC-madeChengduJ-10CEmulti-role combat aircraft,accordingto multiple reports, one of which includes aphotoof one of the fighters supposedly acquired by the Uzbek Air Force. Tashkent reportedly has an agreement with Beijing to receive a total of24 fighters.
Uzbek and Chinese officials have yet to confirm the initial delivery.
If accurate, the deal signals a significant expansion of China’s military cooperation with Central Asia.
Russia’s grip on Central Asia’s arms market has been slipping in recent years, as the increasing demands of maintaining its war effort in Ukraine have sapped its ability to supply weapons to foreign nations around the globe.
In addition to diversifying its arms purchases, some Central Asian states, including Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, have sought to developdomestic arms manufacturing capability, especially for drone production.
Sinopec, China’s state-owned energy giant, and Uzbekneftegaz, the state-owned holding company of Uzbekistan’s oil and gas industry, are considering a deal to jointlyextract hydrocarbonson the Ustyurt plateau, where several promising reserves have been identified, according to Uzbek state news agency UzA.
Uzbek officials have reportedly requested Sinopec to provide specifications for technological solutions needed to drill wells up to 6,000 meters deep in conditions of high reservoir pressure and elevated temperatures.
Sinopec was recently approved toimplementa project worth more than $6 billion, also in western Uzbekistan.
Uzmetkombinat, the country’s largest iron and steel enterprise, and the Chinese metallurgical giant Baigong Steel havesigned an MoUfor the mining of mineral deposits, steel production and other investment projects, the Uzbek company announced.
The value of the deal was not specified, but it covers at least three major deposits.
A delegation from Uzbekistan’s Ferghana region, during a visit to the PRC,reached a preliminary agreementwith a Chinese company, Teglong, to produce electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) in Ferghana, reports UzDaily.uz.
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