Authors

Elzbieta Pron ¹ University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland

Discussion

Russian war against Ukraine exposed a new set of concerns, interests, identities, and policy directions for all of post-Soviet space. In the case of Uzbekistan, it clarified Tashkent's foreign policy strategy, prioritizing Beijing over Moscow as Tashkent's primary partner. While this trend was already in place since 2016 Mirziyoyev assuming the presidential office, since 2022 Uzbekistan has taken several steps to further underline the rank of China, including special events (in Chinese) devoted to presenting Uzbekistan's state development strategy, presidential-level visits and meetings etc. The main question of this research is how Uzbekistan under Mirziyoyev has been developing its China strategy. In particular - how this strategy has changed since the outbreak of Russia's war against Ukraine. To respond these questions, I first examine Uzbekistan's foreign and economic policy interests since 2016, as well as its concept of national development. Then I look at how Uzbekistan has seen China's potential in addressing these interests. Finally, I analyze political and economic implications of Uzbekistan's China policy. I argue that Uzbekistan has primarily seen China as a source of serious investment, a partner to develop the region's connectivity and infrastructure. However, this strategy comes with growing political influence in Uzbekistan and all over the region.