According to the Observer, at noon local time on July 2, China's top leader arrived in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, by special plane. There are two main important events on this trip, one is to pay a state visit to Kazakhstan, and the other is to attend the SCO summit.
The highest-level Chinese plane arrived in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan
How much attention the Kazakh side attaches to the visit of China's top leader this time can be glimpsed from the on-site pick-up arrangement. When the Chinese plane arrived, the weather was not bad, and the whole sky was blue, echoing the light blue carpet laid in Kazakhstan. Generally speaking, when receiving the heads of state of other countries, in order to show their attention, the red carpet is laid. This time, the blue carpet laid in Kazakhstan has a different tone, but it conveys a similar meaning.
As we all know, the flag of Kazakhstan is based on a light blue background, and many official buildings are also based on a light blue background. For example, the roads at the China-Kazakhstan border port are blue and red to represent China and Kazakhstan. Therefore, the laying of the blue carpet is enough to show that Kazakhstan attaches great importance to the visit of China's top leader. In addition, it was Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev who came to the scene to pick up the airport this time. It is rare for the supreme leader to personally pick up the airport, which is already considered the top standard in the reception specifications.
Tokayev personally picked up the plane
China and Kazakhstan are not only neighbors, but Kazakhstan is also the largest of the five Central Asian countries, and it is also located at a key node of the China-Europe land corridor, so China attaches great importance to bilateral relations with Kazakhstan. This time, the Kazakh side has given the highest courtesy to the Chinese side, and China and Kazakhstan are going in both directions. In an interview, Tokayev said that he warmly welcomes the visit of China's top leader and believes that the next summit will promote the opening of a new chapter in the relations between the two countries. Tokayev is an out-and-out "China expert" who has studied Chinese in China and has openly used Chinese to express his friendship with China on many occasions. Therefore, I believe that the current meeting between the heads of state of China and Kazakhstan will be able to achieve the expected results.
In addition to promoting the development of China-Kazakhstan relations, there is another important thing to be done during China's highest-level visit to Kazakhstan, that is, to participate in the SCO summit. There are at least three highlights of this year's SCO summit. The first highlight is the expansion of the SCO. Since its inception, the SCO has undergone two expansions, the first with India and Pakistan, the second with Iran, and now after more than a decade of long-distance running, Belarus is also likely to become a new full member of the SCO, as recently confirmed by SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming. After Belarus joins the SCO, the territory of the SCO will be expanded again, and China's geopolitical influence in Eastern Europe will also increase significantly.
SCO
However, Belarus's accession will also bring new challenges to the SCO. Affected by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the situation on the Belarusian border is facing a severe test. Although the SCO is not a military alliance, if Belarus is involved in the conflict, the security situation in Eastern Europe will collapse completely, which will undoubtedly affect the cooperation between Russia and Belarus within the SCO framework.
The second highlight, Modi's absence. According to Indian media reports, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed a few days ago that Modi will not attend the summit and will be attended by the Indian Foreign Minister on his behalf. As the most important meeting of the SCO this year, and at a critical juncture in the expansion of the SCO, Modi's absence has undoubtedly brought uncertainties to the development of cooperation in the SCO. It is worth mentioning that the SCO's cooperation in the field of security mainly focuses on counter-terrorism and other issues, and some analysts believe that the frequent attacks on Chinese citizens in Pakistan are related to India, which does not want to see the results of China-Pakistan cooperation and secretly supports Pakistan's separatist and terrorist forces. Of course, there is no definite evidence yet, just reasonable speculation from the outside world and the accusations of Pakistan.
Morty
The third point of interest is that China will take over the baton and assume the next rotating presidency. It is interesting to see how the SCO will develop next, and what issues the member states should focus on. In recent years, the SCO has expanded its cooperation from the security sector to economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, and has become an influential multilateral platform in the region.
In general, the visit of the Chinese top leader to Kazakhstan is of great strategic significance for promoting China-Kazakhstan relations, China-Central Asia relations, and the development of the SCO.