Russia-China - Russia and China once again took same stance on the international stage regarding the UN Syria talks. The two great powers snubbed UN Security Council talks convened to discuss a draft resolution that would condemn Syria’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, UN diplomats said. The European drafters of the resolution convened Saturday’s talks in the hope they could break their deadlock on a draft resolution that would not impose sanctions on Syria but would condemn it for the crackdown and suggest Syrian security forces might be guilty of crimes against humanity. Diplomats said the meeting produced no changes among the 13 council members attending. Currently, nine members, including Britain, France, Germany and Portugal, plan to vote for it. Russia and China dislike the idea of any council discussion of Syria and have suggested they might use their veto to kill the resolution.
In addition, China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Russia and other energy-producing and energy-consuming countries to jointly safeguard the stability of world energy market and achieve mutual benefits and win-win results, President Hu Jintao said Friday. President Hu made the remarks in a written interview with Kazakh and Russian media on the eve of his upcoming visit to Kazakstan, Russia and Ukraine from June 12 to 20.
Meanwhile, Gazprom and the Chinese Petroleum Corporation CNPC held the first round of negotiations on the deliveries of natural gas to China on Sunday. The talks were held in Moscow, and they attended the head of the Russian gas holding company, Alexei Miller and CNPC President Jiang Jiemin. Earlier official representative of "Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said that the talks will continue on Tuesday, June 14.
China-Kazakhstan - Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived at Astana on Sunday for a state visit and an annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). President Hu was greeted at the airport by his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev. In a statement released upon his arrival at the airport, Hu expressed the belief that his visit will be a success and serve to advance the strategic partnership between China and Kazakhstan to a new stage. During his visit, Hu and Nazarbayev are expected to discuss the future development of the bilateral strategic partnership. He will also meet Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov. The two sides will exchange views on major regional and international issues of common concern. Sino-Kazakh bilateral trade reached $20.4 billion in 2010, 50 times the trade volume during the early years of the two countries' diplomatic relationship in the 1990s.
At the same time, an NPR article on Sino-Kazakh relations under the title "As China Invests, Many Kazakhs Say: Not Too Fast" caught my eye. According to the article, as China offers billions of dollars in loans to Kazakhstan, many Kazakhs fear China's ambitions and worry that Chinese influence could rob Kazakhstan of its identity — all but swallow up a country whose population is outnumbered by China's 80 to 1. China's influence can certainly be felt in western Kazakhstan's Aktobe region, a place that looks and feels like Texas oil country. Through direct investments and tax dollars, China and its state-owned energy companies have invested $14 billion into the Aktobe region's economy. Chinese money now makes up somewhere between 30 percent and 50 percent of the entire regional budget. "We are losing our resources, and losing our independence," a 38-year-old Kazakh who worked from 1996 to 2009 for the China National Petroleum Corp. says. "In the future, we'll have to rely on China. They'll give the orders here. Sure, they'll give us jobs and small salaries, maybe a bowl of rice. But we'll be working just like if we were in China." Scholars say China is desperate for energy — but, above all, influence.
Russia-Uzbekistan - Lukoil aims to borrow $500 million from a consortium of banks to develop its oil ventures in Uzbekistan, the company said on Monday. The Russian energy major plans to invest the financing to develop and expand the Khausak-Shady-Kandym project of natural gas fields in the country. A top Lukoil official said last month the company plans to hike gas production in Uzbekistan to 18 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year by 2017, a six-fold increase over current levels. To achieve that target, the Russian firm will increase its investment 400 percent to $5 billion.
Articles referred to in this post:
"Россия и Китай проигнорировали обсуждение сирийской резолюции в ООН" (Russia and China ignored the discussion of the Syrian resolution at the UN)
"胡锦涛接受哈萨克斯坦、俄罗斯媒体的书面采访" (President Hu took written interview with Kazakh and Russian media)
"«Газпром» провел первый раунд переговоров по поставкам газа в Китай" (Gazprom held the first round of talks on gas supplies to China)
"胡锦涛开始对哈萨克斯坦进行国事访问" (Hu Jintao pays state visit to Kazakhstan)
"Укрепление китайско-казахстанского партнерства способствует поддержанию мира и стабильности в регионе" (Strengthening Sino-Kazakh partnership contributes to the maintaining peace and stability in the region)
"As China Invests, Many Kazakhs Say: Not Too Fast"
"ЛУКОЙЛ привлечет 500 млн долларов под проекты в Узбекистане" (Lukoil seeks $500M to develop gas projects in Uzbekistan)
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