China’s President backs Kazakhstan’s domestic reforms and foreign policy stance

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been in Kazakhstan for his first foreign visit in nearly three years. His bilateral talks with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev symbolise the importance of their relationship and come at a time of both domestic political change and intense diplomatic activity in Kazakhstan - writes Political Editor Nick Powell.

The talks between Presidents Xi and Tokayev came just before both men were due to fly to Uzbekistan for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation but it was decided to hold a bilateral meeting in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, rather than merely meet in the margins of an international gathering.

President Tokayev remarked on the significance of President Xi’s first trip abroad since the pandemic and on the strong relationship that the two countries have built up over thirty years. “I sincerely thank you for supporting the economic development of Kazakhstan and our international initiatives”, he said.

President Xi stressed that China supports Kazakhstan’s position on regional and international issues. “No matter how the international situation changes, we will continue with our strong support to Kazakhstan in protecting its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as firm support to the reforms you are carrying out”, he said.

President Tokayev has been a powerful advocate of the principle that international borders are inviolable and has made that view clear to the Russia’s President Putin, who is also expected to attend the Cooperation Council. China is a strategic partner for Kazakhstan, not least in developing new trade routes through Central Asia, following the disruption of more northerly routes by western sanctions against Russia.

Nur-Sultan has become something of a diplomatic hotspot this week, with the President also meeting the Pope, surely the world’s leading proponent of soft power without any threat of resorting to arms. His Holiness travelled to Kazakhstan for the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, an interfaith forum held in Nur-Sultan ever since its inauguration in 2003.

The Pope said that being what he called a ‘meeting country’ was Kazakhstan’s special vocation. “There are almost 150 ethnic groups and more than eighty languages in the country”, the Pontiff noted. “These are peoples with different histories, cultural and religious traditions, which together form an incredible symphony and make Kazakhstan a multiethnic, multicultural and multi-confessional unique laboratory”.

The President emphasised how all those groups are united in a Kazakh national identity. “Kazakhstan is a proud home to the largest Catholic community in  Central Asia”, he said. “Christians, together along with other believers contribute strongly towards building a just Kazakhstan, where co-existence, tolerance and mutual acceptance flourish”.

Even in the midst of his diplomatic activity, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev continues to drive his reform agenda. Constitutional amendments are being brought forward to enshrine his commitment to only serve a single seven-year term after facing an early election brought about by his decision to end his current five-year term just three years after he was first elected.

He has also announced plans to change the name of the capital from Nur-Sultan back to its previous name of Astana, ending its association with his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev.

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