After the SCO summit and Xi Jinping’s tour of Central Asia, the British newspaper The Telegraph decided to recall China’s construction of a secret military base in Tajikistan.
«The facility has been under construction for 10 years in a difficult-to-reach area at an altitude of 3,962 meters above sea level. There are troops from both countries at the base. However, the governments of China and Tajikistan deny this information,» The Telegraph reports.
According to The Telegraph, China needs a base in Tajikistan for several reasons:
- Due to the unstable situation in Afghanistan and to «create a front line of defense» on the border of Tajikistan;
- To maintain control over the Uyghurs in Xinjiang;
- To continue cooperation with Dushanbe within the framework of the counter-terrorism policy;
- To protect their investments in Tajikistan (40 percent of the republic’s external debt is owed to the PRC).
The newspaper also notes the economic expansion of China and emphasizes that dependence on China will sooner or later turn into political and security dependence.
Meanwhile, Temur Umarov, an employee of the Carnegie Research Center in Berlin, emphasized in a comment to 24.kg news agency: China is really building a base in the Republic of Tajikistan. But this is not a military facility, but a base for the armed people’s militia, and Dushanbe is no less interested in it than Beijing.
«The very name of the base does not greatly change China’s presence in the region. But technically and legally it is an armed police base. First of all, Tajikistan needs it to ensure the security of the border with Afghanistan. China also needs this facility to ensure security on the boundaries of the country bordering China and Afghanistan. There is no hidden agenda here,» Temur Umarov said.
