ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- China's economic ambitions in Central Asia are enormous, exemplified by its Silk Road Economic Belt proposals.
These are intended to strengthen economic integration with the region's five former Soviet republics. But as security concerns grow, it is no longer business as usual for Beijing in Central Asia.
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and, in particular, Tajikistan, appear highly exposed to a double threat posed by Taliban insurgents along the Afghan border and local elements of the Islamic State terrorist group. The region is also home to many Uighurs, regarded with suspicion by Beijing as a destabilizing force in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang.
Although Chinese businesspeople and diplomats have been seriously active in Central Asia only since the 1990s, escalating tensions on both sides of the Xinjiang border have pushed the stability of the region higher up on Beijing's foreign policy agenda.
"The peace and stability of Central Asia relates to the core interests of China," said Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cheng Guoping at a 2012 regional summit. "Our determination to maintain the peace and stability of Central Asia is steadfast."
Disorder along Central Asia's southern frontier with Afghanistan has intensified with the U.S. withdrawal of combat troops, despite assurances from Washington that it remains concerned about border security.
Following the announcement of the death of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, a significant number of fighters are believed to have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State group. The region has already provided the terrorist group with thousands of volunteers for combat in Syria and Iraq.
Moscow maintains a military presence in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, and has repeatedly urged the members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russian-led security organization mostly focusing on Central Asia, to join forces to secure the region's southern border. Thousands of troops were deployed under the grouping's banner for military drills in Tajikistan in May. More recently, the Kremlin has beefed up its military firepower in Tajikistan, and it seems ready to resume regular patrols along the Afghan border for the first time since 2005.
