The new government gets an initial thumbs-up as well as aid from Russia and the United States. China is still a bystander, but Kyrgyzstan is crucial for its expansion into Central Asia. Sino-Kyrgyz trade is in fact quite substantial and many Chinese companies are active in the country.

Bishkek (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The fall of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s administration was preceded by an unprecedented campaign of criticism by Russian media, including radio and the web, which are accessible from Kyrgyzstan. Experts believe that Moscow played a role in Bakiyev’s fall. After accumulating a lot of power, he had become a thorn in Russia’s side. They now wonder how much Russia will be able to strengthen its ties with the new government at the expense of the United States and China.

Russia slapped export duties on fuel shipments to Kyrgyzstan at the start of the month, causing suppliers to halt deliveries. This pushed up already soaring energy costs in the Central Asian nation, sparking unrest in a country that is already reeling from widespread poverty.

Russia had not particularly welcomed Bakiyev’s decision to renew a lease on a transit centre (pictured) at Manas airport, run by the United States for its war in Afghanistan.

Experts believe that the former Kyrgyz president had first agreed with Moscow to close down the US facility in exchange for economic aid, causing Russia's anger when last June he renewed the US lease.

After a provisional government took over in Bishkek, Moscow announced its support for the new administration and pledged a US$ 50 million financial aid package.

Roza Otunbayeva, the new government’s chairwoman, was able nonetheless to get US backing, following a trip to Bishkek by Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake who got reassurances about the US presence in Manas. Otunbayeva also said that she plans to visit Washington to meet officials there.

Closer Kyrgyz-Russian relations worry Beijing. For Chinese leaders Kyrgyzstan is a key element in their Central Asia strategy. Back in December, China successfully broke Russia’s stranglehold over the region’s energy market when it launched a 2,000-km gas pipeline from Turkmenistan. The pipeline goes through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, entering China at the Alataw Pass in Xinjiang, where it connects with the West–East Gas Pipeline, where it continues to Shanghai.

Even though the new structure avoids Kyrgyzstan, the Central Asian nation is important to China. It has in fact become its third-largest trading partner in the Commonwealth of Independent States after Russia and Kazakhstan.

Chinese companies are very active in the country, with bilateral trade reaching the US$ 10 billion mark, a huge sum for the impoverished country of five million people. Indeed, days before the riots, China's Guodian Corp had announced plans to invest US$ 4 billion in Kyrgyzstan's heating and power sector over the next five years.

However, Chinese businesses suffered "heavy losses" from looting during the riots in Bishkek. The Chinese-owned Guoying shopping mall was burned for the second time since Kyrgyzstan's Tulip Revolution in 2005.

China has not yet adopted an official stance towards the coup, but Kyrgyzstan remains central to Beijing’s plans to increase its influence in Central Asia.

For this reason, Chinese experts and media have repeatedly said that Kyrgyzstan’s relations with China would not change.  In fact, Beijing too can be liberal in its aid to a country that ostensibly cannot hope to improve its economy without foreign aid.

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• russia
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• china
• bakiyev
• coup
• trade
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• pipelines