Abstract:

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is China’s ambitious program aimed at reviving the ancient Silk Road to enhance global connectivity. However, another motive behind the BRI is to promote economic development in China’s less developed regions, such as Xinjiang. Xinjiang, China’s westernmost frontier, serves as a bridge to Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Historically known as Eastern Turkistan before becoming part of China, Xinjiang is a multiethnic region predominantly inhabited by people of Uyghur, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz origin. Since the early 20th century, Xinjiang has experienced periodic anti-China protests, with significant demonstrations by Kazakhs urging their government to address these issues with China.

This paper analyzes the factors that contribute to the strong Kazakhstan-China relationship. Despite historically strained relations due to border disputes and ethnic tensions, Kazakhstan and China have developed close ties since the launch of the BRI in 2013. To understand the contemporary state of relations between the two nations, it is imperative to consider the historical context of the Turkistan region and its local ethnic identities. This study explores the historical discourses on the ties between the Han Empire and Turkistan (as ontological prior) in the context of the old Silk Road, employing an argumentative framework. This study's relevance lies in the BRI's success in Kazakhstan despite its historically strained ties with China due to border and ethnic issues.

This research will utilize local online sources, interviews with experts in Historical Studies of Central Asia and Eurasia, archival material from the Nehru Memorial Library in New Delhi, as well as resources from the Japanese National Institute of Informatics Digital Silk Road Project website, extensively tracing the journey from the old Silk Road to the new One Belt One Road Initiative.