| Publication |
2007.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The Soviet Union and the socialist camp, which have disappeared from the maps, the readjusted balance of global forces, and the five new independent states on China's western borders forced the PRC to change its foreign policy priorities. This should be done first in relation to Central Asia as a vitally important neighboring region on which China's political and economic security primarily depends. This explains Beijing's keen interest in Central Asian developments and its active efforts to spread its influence there. The PRC has become an important actor with a lot of political, economic, and cultural clout.
As soon as the Soviet Union left the scene, the Chinese government recognized the independence of the Central Asian states, established diplomatic relations with them, set up scientific centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Lanzhou, Urumqi, and elsewhere, and mobilized enough scholars to study the region in depth and in detail
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