俄副外长：不卷入中国领土纠纷 中国承认俄在中亚影响

choi

Compare

(1) 俄副外长：不卷入中国领土纠纷 中国承认俄在中亚影响. VOA Chinese, Sept 9, 2013.
http://www.voachinese.com/conten ... 130909/1745913.html
("*习近平访中亚 俄否认利益受挑战*")

with
(2) Central Asia and its Russian dependence  | Remittance Man; Russia attempts to draw Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan back into its orbit. Economist, Sept 7, 2013
http://www.economist.com/news/as ... rbit-remittance-man

Quote:

"According to the World Bank, Tajikistan is more dependent on remittances than any other country in the world. Last year migrant workers sent home the equivalent of 47% of Tajikistan’s GDP. Perhaps half of working-age males are abroad, most in Russia. Kyrgyzstan is third in the World Bank’s rankings, behind Liberia. One-fifth of its workforce are migrant workers. The economic dependence of these two countries gives their former imperial master great influence.

"For the pragmatists[in Russia], one consideration [for Russia to form a bloc with former Soviet republics in Central Asia] is staving off China, now the main economic partner for all the Central Asian republics bar Uzbekistan, often by a large margin

"Moscow has maintained visa-free agreements with most former Soviet republics

My comment:
(a) Bishkek
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishkek
(capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan)
(b) Dushanbe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dushanbe
(capital and largest city of Tajikistan)
(c) Quotation 2 is the only mention of China in the article. There is no need to read the rest. Suffice to say that successive Russian administrations pays lip service to China. It is undeniable , however, that "pragmatists" in Russia "hedge," too, like Americans.