Paper title:
 China’s Central Asia Policy: A Regional Challenge to the RBIO?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4316/CC.2025.02.09
Published in:
Issue 2 (Vol. 31) / 2025
Publishing date:
2025-12-31
Pages:
501 - 544
Author(s):
Halit Hamzaoğlu
Abstract:
 China has the potential to challenge the rules-based international order (RBIO). This challenge is evident worldwide. Through opaque economic methods, China is becoming an effective geopolitical power across diverse regions. Central Asia is one region where Chinese expansionism has become particularly evident. Central Asia is a major route for China’s ambitious ‘One Belt, One Road’ (BRI) project. The revival of the modern Silk Road paves the way for China’s global ambitions to take a geopolitical content. BRI is vital for the formation of a China-centred international system. In this context, China is gradually increasing its political, military, and cultural influence, as well as its economic presence, in Central Asia. China’s growing presence in Central Asia reveals how it has transformed the economy into an effective geopolitical tool. After 2013, there has been a noticeable change in the asymmetric dependence of Central Asian countries on China. This situation poses many risks for the countries of the region.

Keywords:
 China, RBIO, BRI, Central Asia, expansionism, influence, geopolitics.




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