144Received 20.03.2023. Revised 30.08.2023. Accepted 09.11.2023.
Abstract. The geopolitical and geostrategic position of Central Asia and, in particular, oil and gas reserves, the potential of transit and communication routes have led to a new round of interest of the leading world powers in the countries of the region. At the same time, for the People’s Republic of China, which is usually considered as the main “creditor” of the Central Asian countries, interaction with the states of the region in the field of security becomes a priority. This article identifies changes in the PRC’s approaches to ensuring security in the states of Central Asia by studying the rhetoric of officials representing the relevant Chinese departments, as well as taking into account the chronology of the signing of relevant agreements between the Chinese side and the countries of the region, establishing and changing interaction formats. In addition, the content and scope of China’s military and military-technical cooperation with the countries of Central Asia are analyzed from 2001 to 2023. Concerning the data presented, a conclusion is made about the main regional factors that influenced the evolution of the PRC’s policy in the region in the field of security. Based on the proposed logic of the work, the author identifies several stages of the PRC’s policy towards building interaction with the countries of Central Asia. At the initial stage of interaction, China’s policy in Central Asia was determined by the need to protect its own borders and limit the spread of the “three forces of evil” from Central Asia to Chinese territory. In 2009–2010 the PRC is becoming an important economic partner of the countries of Central Asia, and the basis for the goal setting of its security policy is the protection of its transport, energy, infrastructure (or generally economic) projects. In the future, most of these projects will be complemented and expanded as part of the implementation of the Belt and Road initiative in the region. Since 2019 the PRC has added to the format of interaction with the countries the component of bilateral anti-terrorist exercises, which it conducts under the auspices of its own campaign “Cooperation‑2019”. At the present stage, the interaction of the PRC with the Central Asian countries in the field of security is formed under the influence of the “China + Central Asia” format, where there are no external players like Russia or India and Pakistan.
Keywords: PRC foreign policy, China and Central Asia, security cooperation, military cooperation, regional security in Central Asia
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