| Summary/Abstract |
The article explores the political and diplomatic response from Kazakh and Kyrgyz governments towards China regarding its post-2014 Xinjiang security strategy. The policy, which includes repressive measures against Xinjiang Muslim minorities, has led to the detention of a significant number of ethnic Kazakh and Kyrgyz, thus calling for a reaction from their kin states. In order to explain the complexity of the problem, the article looks via a neorealist lens at the role of Kazakh and Kyrgyz human rights advocacy groups in urging local authorities to securely release ethnic Kazakh and Kyrgyz detained in Xinjiang's “vocational camps”. It further explores official responses from Kazakh and Kyrgyz governments, identifying their considerations and foreign policy choices. This article concludes that Kazakh and Kyrgyz governments neither possess economic and political leverage to press on China over the Xinjiang issue nor are they willing to do so as this may jeopardize their cooperation with China.
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