US and China compete for influence in Central Asia
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to strike deals across resource-rich Central Asia and reverse Chinese inroads. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to strike deals across resource-rich Central Asia and reverse Chinese inroads in a region long dominated by Russia. Uzbekistan holds vast deposits of rare earths and critical minerals, while neighboring Kazakhstan is the world’s leading producer of uranium, accounting for 40% of supplies. Rubio promised on his visit to the region that the US was offering long-term deals in a part of the world Washington has historically undervalued. But so too is China, which is also expanding its cultural footprint in the region: Ever more Central Asians are learning Chinese, with many convinced it’s “ the language of the future, ” the Jamestown Foundation wrote.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to strike deals across resource-rich Central Asia and reverse Chinese inroads. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to strike deals across resource-rich Central Asia and reverse Chinese inroads in a region long dominated by Russia. Uzbekistan holds vast deposits of rare earths and critical minerals, while neighboring Kazakhstan is the world’s leading producer of uranium, accounting for 40% of supplies. Rubio promised on his visit to the region that the US was offering long-term deals in a part of the world Washington has historically undervalued.
But so too is China, which is also expanding its cultural footprint in the region: Ever more Central Asians are learning Chinese, with many convinced it’s “ the language of the future, ” the Jamestown Foundation wrote.