The land issue in Tajikistan runs the risk of escalating into an interethnic conflict.
Evidence of this is the entry of troops of the People's Republic of China into the territory of a neighboring country. Beijing established military control over part of the land in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) of Tajikistan. Dushanbe transferred these territories to China to repay its external debt. It is known that the Tajik authorities gave their Chinese partners dozens of hectares of land in the Murghab region of GBAO, but the official authorities refuse to confirm this fact. In total, over the years of independence, the Chinese were given 1.5 thousand square kilometers of land, in fact, a disputed territory.
Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region is known for its position on the central government. Residents of GBAO do not always obey the decisions of official Dushanbe, often causing the "fire" of the republican leadership on themselves. It is worth recalling that in the summer of 2012, a conflict broke out in the autonomy, provoked by the center, in which, among other things, civilians died. Gorny Badakhshan defended its field commanders, who were persecuted by the country's authorities. If the expansion with the involvement of the military from China continues, it is possible that another conflict will break out in the region, this time with a territorial connotation.
Since the beginning of 2013, many experts have warned that the country's authorities are preparing an act on the transfer of land to China, but no one took the information seriously.
The territories were given to the PRC to pay off the external debt. In the future, they will give China highland lands. The Chinese side needs them, since they are rich in deposits of precious stones, uranium and minerals. It is known that at this time the Chinese have already started geological exploration work in Murghab itself.
It is known that not only military, but also civilians have already begun to enter the territory of Tajikistan. The latter will develop the lands where ethnic Tajiks once lived. Today, there is an unspoken struggle between the parties for land, which the Tajiks do not want to give up to Chinese migrants. However, they will apparently still have to do this, since there is a government paper obliging the local population to leave the territory.
That's it. There and then a bunch of questions arise at full height.
China will not miss its own, it is a fact. The entire territory and everything that is used on it to the fullest. And all problems will be solved, including by force, if necessary.
Tajikistan gave land to China as a debt. It is interesting that they also owe Russia a lot of money, but they are not going to give anything, let alone land. Moreover, they demand money with a brazen face, and more and more for our military base. At the same time, all the time talking about friendship and demanding all sorts of indulgences and a visa-free regime of entry to Russia.
And also, if the population from the already transferred Chinese lands have to move out, then the question is: Where will they go with the whole crowd? Guess.
These are the pies.
DUSHANBE, June 7 - Sputnik, Vadim Popov.Tajikistan is among the countries with growing financial vulnerability due to commitments to China.
Experts from the Center for Global Development (USA) studied the investment policy of the PRC and found that the states of Asia, Africa and Europe owe the Chinese $ 8 trillion.
Tajikistan is at risk along with Kyrgyzstan, Djibouti, Laos, Maldives, Mongolia, Montenegro, Pakistan.
Where does Tajikistan get its debt to China
Tajikistan's total debt to China is $ 1.2 billion (over 20% of GDP). The total amount of external debt as of April 1, 2018 was $ 2.859 billion. Most of Tajikistan's obligations are government debt on "tied" loans. The funds are spent on infrastructure projects necessary for the development of the republic's economy.
In exchange for financial assistance, Tajikistan is obliged to import goods, provide control over deposits, and fulfill other, often disadvantageous, terms of agreements.
Thus, in exchange for the construction of the Dushanbe-2 CHPP, the Tajik government granted the Chinese company TBEA the right to mine gold at the Upper Kumarg deposit. The Chinese will own the deposit until Tajikistan returns $ 331 million.
Most of the loans from the PRC to Tajikistan are in one way or another connected with the mining industry. Experts do not exclude that the growing volumes of direct investment in strategically important sectors may lead to Tajikistan's dependence on a powerful neighbor.
Kyrgyzstan - fellow in debt misery
A similar situation is developing in neighboring Kyrgyzstan. The state external debt of Kyrgyzstan to China (Eximbank of the PRC) is 1 billion 709 million dollars. Of these, $ 386 million was taken to modernize the capital's CHP.
Over the past 10 years, the debt to the Celestial Empire has increased almost 200 times. In March, Chinese Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Xiao Qinghua said that the debt would be paid in accordance with the agreements, and the Chinese side was not discussing the issue of writing off.
The citizens of the republic are seriously concerned about the current situation. Those who are not indifferent worry that the borrower can take part of the land instead of the debt. In order for the economically active population - 2.5 million Kyrgyzstanis - to pay the state debt of the PRC, each person must allocate $ 680. The offer of activists to "chip in" stirred up the public in Kyrgyzstan. Meanwhile, the debt to the Chinese continues to grow.
To protect trade routes, China needs military bases; sites for them can also be purchased against unpaid debt.
For example, analysts suggest that the Chinese may gain control over a port on the island of Espiritu Santo in the state of Vanuatu. For the construction of this and other facilities, the PRC allocated a loan of $ 270 million to Vanuatu, which amounted to about half of the external debt of the Pacific state, or about a third of GDP. A Chinese naval base may appear at a distance of 2 thousand kilometers from Australia.
Analysts' fears are not unfounded. China already has a foreign base from Djibouti's debt in the Horn of Africa. The total loans of this state have reached half of the GDP. The Center for Global Development predicts that China's share in Djibouti's public debt will grow from 82% to 91% in the near future. The base is located next to an important transport artery on the border between Asia and Europe.
In 2015, the government of Pakistan transferred the port of Gwadar to the Chinese state-owned company China Overseas Port Holding for 43 years to create a "special economic zone." Islamabad owes Beijing nearly $ 16 billion. The deal will give the PRC 91% of the profit from the port's revenues, plus another 85% of its revenues will be given to China by the "free zone". Gwadar is the most important object in China's ties with the Middle East. The Pakistani corridor is designed to relieve the stress of the Strait of Malacca, through which more than 80 percent of China's imported oil currently passes.
In 2002, the PRC government wrote off debts to the government of Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan. According to the official explanation, the PRC wants to help cope with the crisis caused by the aftermath of the Taliban regime and the US anti-terrorist campaign. The exact amount of debts written off was not disclosed.
From 2000 to 2009, China wrote off debts to 35 African states totaling $ 2.85 billion. In 2007, the debts of 49 of the most underdeveloped and poorest countries in Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific were canceled. Debts of Mongolia were written off. The exact terms of many of the deals remained unknown.
Should Central Asia be wary of Chinese expansion
Returning to the situation in Central Asia, it is worth noting that the governments of the republics are assuring the population of the need for loans.
Thus, the first deputy director of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Tajikistan, Sayfullo Safarov, believes that there is no Chinese expansion into Tajikistan, but there are friendly relations and strategic partnership.
In turn, the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, notes as a reason for pride that foreign investments per one inhabitant of the republic exceed the world average and are twice as high as in developing countries. At the same time, the share of investments in the mining industry of Kazakhstan amounted to 34% of the total volume, plus 23% for geological exploration.
Head of the Economics Department of the Institute of CIS Countries Aza Migranyan is confident that the Chinese do not need political control over Central Asia. All they want is to gain a competitive edge in the natural resource market. The expert explains the actions of the leadership of the Central Asian states by the need to develop. After all, the Central Asian economy really needs financial resources.
But not everyone shares this optimism.
Semyon Bagdasarov, director of the Center for the Study of the Middle East and Central Asia, believes that China has far-reaching plans for Central Asia and its closest neighbors. He is confident that the PRC should be feared no less than the United States.
"The Chinese have moved on to the second stage - to military expansion. They are not our allies. If a situation arises when we need to merge, they will do it with no less pleasure than the Americans," Semyon Bagdasarov told Sputnik Tajikistan.
International financial institutions also warn Tajikistan and its neighbors against debt dependence.
In November 2017, the IMF decided to reclassify the poverty level in Tajikistan to a higher one. This decision was made due to the violation of indicative limits of the republic's state debt.
"It is imperative that low-income developing countries increase their tax capacity. This will enable them to service their debt ... And it is important not to create unnecessary incentives when economic activity is already accelerating," says the Fund's special report "Reducing High Debt ".
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde, speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, noted that the level and burden of indebtedness of sovereign states and corporations had reached unprecedented proportions. Now it is about $ 162 trillion, about 220% of world GDP, which is much more than after World War II - and this is not the limit.
The IMF notes that, in addition to debt, the cost of servicing it increases, it becomes more and more difficult to take out loans. In these conditions, China's proposals are perceived as salvation. It remains only to hope that the drowning ones will swim out and will not go to the bottom with their saviors.
In mid-January, the parliament of Tajikistan ratified a protocol on the demarcation of its border, according to which 1.1 thousand square kilometers of disputed territories are assigned to China, which is 0.77 percent of the total territory of Tajikistan. The ceremony on the occasion of the transfer of land was attended by military officials of the two countries, who exchanged memorable gifts.
On the transferred land is part of the Pamir mountain range, which crosses several Central Asian countries, writes the site ASIA-Plus.
Tajikistan is one of several Central Asian states that have a border with China. It shares borders with China and Kazakhstan. Last year, Kazakhstan turned down an offer from Beijing to lease a million hectares of Kazakh land along the border to grow soybeans.
82 THOUSAND CHINESE
In June of this year, it was reported that 1.5 thousand Chinese farmers would come to Tajikistan to develop two thousand hectares of land in the southern, mainly mountainous regions - Kumsangir and Bokhtar.
Khatlon region - for growing cotton and rice.
The Tajik Migration Service says that back in 2007, 30,000 Chinese migrant workers were employed in the construction of roads, power substations and mountainous areas. There are claims that some Chinese workers do not return home after projects are completed.
According to official data, the number of Chinese citizens in Tajikistan at the beginning of 2010 was about 82 thousand people.
NO HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Rakhim Masov, director of the Institute of History of the Tajik Academy of Sciences, a famous scientist, academician, since 2004 is a member of the Tajik-Chinese intergovernmental commission. Masov said in an interview with the BBC that he personally did not sign the document according to which part of the territory of Tajikistan is taken by China, the website Tajmicrant.com writes.
- It was the wrong decision of the government of Tajikistan. The territorial integrity and indivisibility of our state is a matter of honor and dignity for every Tajik, ”says academician Rakhim Masov.
He said that as a result of many years of work of scientists back in
Soviet times, it was revealed that it was in this territory of Tajikistan (Eastern Pamir) that there are large reserves of 17 types of minerals, the website Tajmicrant.com writes.
The scientist is convinced that there are no historical prerequisites for the transfer of Tajik lands to China.
“To resolve this issue, the government of Tajikistan has set up a special commission. The PRC then demanded that the lands of the Tajik Eastern Pamirs be transferred to it. Tajikistan, naturally, did not agree with this formulation of the question. As a result of negotiations, it was decided to transfer only more than 3 percent of the territory. It should be recalled that in the past, the Bukhara Emirate did not have a common border with China, since Badakhshan temporarily joined Bukhara only in 1895. Then Russian troops were stationed in the Pamirs. The PRC had no business in this region. Both the Emirate of Bukhara and the Pamirs were subordinate to the Russian Federation, ”the agency“ Regnum ”quotes the historian.
Khamrokhon Zarifi, the head of the Tajik Foreign Ministry, speaking to parliamentarians, said that China and Russia signed an agreement in 1884 called "New Margelan", according to which the authorities of present-day China claimed more than 28 thousand square kilometers of Tajik territory.
AKAYEV PUNISHED FOR TRANSFER OF LAND
The problem of resolving territorial disputes with China faced not only Tajikistan, but also Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
On August 12, 2010, Askar Akayev, the former president of Kyrgyzstan, was stripped of his immunity status for a number of crimes, including for “transferring to Kazakhstan and China a part of the primordial Kyrgyz lands”. Kazakhstan also made concessions, but society does not remember this.
The members of the Provisional Government of Kyrgyzstan called the change of the line of the state border with China and Kazakhstan in favor of the latter “the gravest crime” committed by Askar Akayev during his presidency.
"Because of his criminal conciliatory position on the line of passage of the Kyrgyz-Chinese and Kyrgyz-Kazakh borders, the primordial Kyrgyz lands, the names of which testify to their inalienable historical belonging to the Kyrgyz people, were transferred to China and Kazakhstan," the decree says.
Our radio Azattyk wrote that in 2001, as a result of the delimitation of the state border with Kyrgyzstan, about 600 hectares of land were transferred to Kazakhstan. But before that, Kazakhstan itself lost a number of border areas. For example, in April 1994, as a result of an agreement on the Kazakh-Chinese state border, Kazakhstan transferred to China an area of \u200b\u200b946 square kilometers.
In 1997, the fate of two disputed regions in Almaty and East Kazakhstan regions was decided. Then the territory of about 530 square kilometers passed over to China.
In September 2002, Kazakhstan ceded to Uzbekistan part of the lands of the Saryagash district of the South Kazakhstan region, including the village of Turkestanets. Part of the territory of the Kyzylorda region was also transferred to Uzbekistan. In total, the Uzbek side got about 1,700 hectares of land.
UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT IN KAZAKHSTAN
Our radio Azattyk has already reported that two years ago, in 2009, the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, paid a visit to China. Then an agreement was reached on a Chinese loan of $ 10 billion.
After that visit, Nursultan Nazarbayev announced at a meeting of the Council of Foreign Investors about the possible lease of 1 million hectares of irrigated land to China. However, later that year, after a violent protest from the Kazakh public, he not only refused to implement this idea, but also threatened to bring to justice those who would "spread rumors on this topic."
He referred his opponents to Article 23 of the Land Code. “It is written in black and white that the land cannot be sold to foreigners. What else can you add to this? " - said the President of Kazakhstan on this resonant topic in December 2009 and never returned to it.
This week, the media widely discussed the statement of the leader of the Social Democrats, Rakhmatillo Zoyirov, that China could get more of the Tajik territory. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan has denied this statement, R. Zoyirov himself specified that it was made last year. But, nevertheless, the main question remained: would our mighty eastern neighbor want to get hold of land again at the expense of the country that owed him money?
This week, Radio Sadoi Khuroson spread a message on behalf of the head of the NSDPT Rakhmatillo Zoyirov that China allegedly received more territories than previously agreed between the countries. According to him, radio reports, in general, Chinese border guards have moved their territory by 20 km. further than they should have. In addition, Sadoi Khuroson writes that Zoyirov does not exclude that the military exercises planned in Khorog may be associated with an additional possibility of transferring Murghab lands to China in exchange for existing debts. And supposedly the military presence in GBAO is carried out to suppress discontent from the side of the population, if it arises during the transfer of land.
The country's Foreign Ministry has already called Zoyirov's statement a provocation.
The head of the OSDPT himself clarified the situation a day later, partially refuting the information of Sadoi Khuroson.
According to him, at the end of 2011, he really witnessed how the Chinese border guards "ruled the Tajik territory", entering into the depths of Tajik territory 20 km further than was supposed on the basis of the agreement concluded between the countries.
Specifically, he says:
- The border guards of China ruled in depths 15-20 kilometers from the disputed borders, and, moreover, they installed posts and pulled a wire fence. Even then I was outraged that the concept of \\ "alignment of borders \\" could not be like that, and it is possible that there is a \\ "concession \\" of the territory of Tajikistan on some deals with China, and it is possible that this is a concession on \\ " \\ "in front of China. At that time I still had the assumption that the negotiations between China and Tajikistan, which were conducted in 1999-2001, which later resulted in an agreement concluded in 2002, were one of the reasons that served to withdraw the Russian border troops from Tajikistan. For there would be Russian border troops, the Chinese border guards would not be so arbitrarily bossy there, - Zoyirov told AP.
When asked how he was able to determine that the Chinese border guards were "in charge" on the territory of Tajikistan, R. Zoyirov replied that he asked local people and Tajik border guards about the distance to the border, who said that the border was at least 20 kilometers away. He says that when he asked the Tajik border guards why the Chinese border guards were in charge there, there was no answer. “They believed that all this was done with the permission of the Tajik authorities,” says R. Zoirov.
However, at the same time, the head of the NSDPT denies that he linked the military exercises in Khorog with the transfer of land to China. According to him, it is beneficial for someone to present it in such a light, he does not exclude that this is done by persons from the authorities in order to discredit the leadership of the republic.
Why this publication has appeared now, who ordered it, this is not a question for me. But it is clear that I did not give any statements or interviews in the near future. Once information has appeared, and with reference to me, without agreement with me, it means that it is necessary for someone, moreover from high-ranking officials and, yes, in geopolitical interests it is necessary, - the politician believes. - The worst thing is that this information is ringing precisely when the authorities of Tajikistan, according to incomprehensible logic, want to conduct large-scale military exercises in GBAO, which will inevitably lead to destabilization of the socio-political situation in the region, because a powerful force is growing in the depths of our government, moreover, anti-Achmon. which is engaged in discrediting the authorities, to which the example of the events in Khorog on July 24-25, 2012, concluded Zoyirov.
Lease for an indefinite period?
Talks about the possible transfer of another part of the Murghab lands to China have been held before.
In particular, a couple of weeks ago, the former head of the NSDP in GBAO Alim Sherzamonov wrote about this on the Facebook page of the social network with reference to sources from the security forces. However, according to Sherzamonov, this time the land will be transferred under a "plausible pretext" for leasing for a "limited" period. He also stated this to the Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
It might be noted here that we already have experience in leasing land to China. In the same 2011, Tajikistan leased to the Chinese two thousand hectares of land in the Khatlon region for growing rice and cotton.
However, a senior official in GBAO told Ozodagon that there is no talk of transferring or leasing land to China.
We do not know anything about this. There is no talk of transferring land to China or leasing it. Unless it's discussed at the top, says the source.
Pamir - the key to wealth?
Alexander Sobyanin, head of the strategic planning service of the Association for Border Cooperation, in Nezavisimaya Gazeta notes that the Pamir and Tien Shan mountains are fantastically rich in uranium: according to various estimates, 14 to 40% of the world's reserves lie here. According to him, now the conditions for production in the Pamirs are very difficult, but one day they will become profitable.
“The growth of the world economy will sooner or later make mining profitable. The Pamir is the key to the entire Tien Shan. Those who control the Pamirs will also receive a controlling stake in a number of Central Asian “projects of the century”, ”the newspaper quoted Sobyanin as saying.
In an interview with the same publication, A. Sherzamonov notes that prospecting work has already begun in Murghab, which is unsuitable for life, but rich in deposits, maps are being drawn up and the assessment of deposits will begin in the near future.
“In order to remove obstacles, the Tajik parliament on January 17, 2013 ratified the agreement signed in June 2012 between the governments of Tajikistan and China on the regime of the Tajik-Chinese state border. Under the new agreements, entry and exit is simplified for citizens who work in the adjacent territory. They cross the state border according to the lists. Earlier, the deputies adopted amendments to the Law “On Subsoil”, giving the right to legal entities to develop the subsoil of the republic, including uranium deposits, ”notes A. Sherzamonov.
Ozodagon has at its disposal the data of the RF FSB, which to some extent can confirm the words of the Tajik politician. Judging by them, China has long had an interest in the eastern territories of Tajikistan.
These data are dated 2007, but some of these conclusions have now been confirmed. In particular, the memo of this department says:
“... In addition, China's stable interest in the territory of the Gorno-Badakhshan region of the Republic of Tatarstan (GBAO RT) has been revealed. At present, China is pursuing a policy of gradual "recapture" from Tajikistan, the so-called "disputed territories" (Eastern Pamir), where large deposits of minerals are located, which the actively growing Chinese economy is in dire need of.
So, at present, China considers several territories of the Republic of Tatarstan to be "disputed lands", namely along the border in the zone of responsibility of the "Markan-Su" pogz (about 40 km), and the "Pamirskaya" pogz (22 km).
It was established that on the adjacent territory of the PRC, near the state border line, a hard-surfaced highway was built on the Chinese side. A similar road was built on the Kyzyl-Chiik, Uz-Bel, Muzkukuruk and Pangazbelo passes. Based on this, it could be assumed that the PRC is actively preparing for the demarcation of the border with the Republic of Tatarstan and thereby seeks to seize the contested areas.
The section of the Tajik-Chinese border considered at the talks in Beijing on October 28, 1994 is a 476 km line (according to Tajik data, 520 km). The official verbal definition of the length, adopted by the Tajik side in the negotiations "about" 500 km "...
In total, the Chinese side submitted claims for 23.3 thousand square meters. km of the territory of the Eastern Pamirs.
The PRC's desire to create a geopolitical position in the Murghab region of GBAO RT proceeds precisely because of the location of several explored mineral deposits in these areas, with a high degree of accessibility due to the terrain.
The dominant factor of the PRC is the planning and creation of a "free economic zone" in the Eastern Pamirs, which will allow China to intensively develop minerals such as:
1) Rang-Kul - (5 pogz "Rang-Kul") - loose gold, (mined during the Second World War), in the same place rock salt;
2) Shat-Put - (4 pogz "Shat-Put") - precious stones, deposits of rubies.
3) Agadzhan and Dunkeldek - (2 pogz "Ozernaya") - fluorite;
4) Shaimak - (1 pogz "Kyzyl-Rabat") - gypsum;
5) Kyzyl - Rabat - hot mineral springs of great balneological value;
6) Anzhylga - (3 pogz "Ak-SU") - bauxite;
7) Karadzhilga - (2nd industrial complex "Kara-Kul") - loose gold.
... Representatives of the People's Republic of China, under the guise of "sociological research", conducted a survey of the local population on the attitude towards China's politics and economic achievements.
Considering that the PRC historically claims part of the territories of the Republic of Tatarstan west of Murghab, it is possible that the Chinese are working out public opinion for the possible use of the data obtained when conducting informational actions on the population of Tajik Badakhshan in the interests of forming an opinion among local residents about the accession of this region of the Republic of Tatarstan to the PRC.
Investments will mainly be provided to the chairman of GBAO, who, in turn, plans to create a wide tourism network in the mountains by attracting funds from international companies. In addition, it is possible that the decision to transfer the contested land plots to the Chinese side was imposed by the PRC leadership for the investments provided by Tajikistan.
Main creditor of Tajikistan
According to official data, the external debt of Tajikistan is mainly made up of Chinese funds. What exactly this amount is today, we do not know - the Ministry of Finance requires an official request in order to answer this question.
But if you cite at least last year's data, then the figure turns out to be rather big. Thus, as of April 1 of last year, the country's external debt amounted to more than $ 2 billion. 138 million, of which over $ 878 million are debts to China.
Could this be a reason for China to ask for a lease or permanently some lands in Tajikistan? Not yet known.
It is only known that once the government of Tajikistan has already made these concessions.
Runet was stirred up by rumors about the "occupation" of Gorno-Badakhshan
The adherents of the concept of the "Chinese threat" have recently received a new reason to speculate about the quiet expansion of the PRC in the post-Soviet space. Rumors about the occupation of Tajik territory by the troops of the Celestial Empire excited the news space.
Several Russian media outlets at once reprinted the message that appeared in the beginning of May in the online edition Forum.msk. Citing unnamed sources in the Tajik opposition, the publication reported that Chinese troops captured the eastern Pamir in the Murghab region of Tajikistan and took control of the only highway in the region.
The publication also reported that over the years of independence, Tajikistan has already transferred to China 1.5 thousand square kilometers of disputed territories, the total area of \u200b\u200bwhich is 28.5 thousand square meters. km. It is also argued that at the beginning of the year, Dushanbe was preparing to transfer part of the Pamir highlands, which is considered uninhabitable, but rich in deposits of precious stones, rare minerals and even uranium, in order to pay off its external debt to Beijing. Prospecting work has already begun in Murghab, maps are being made and the assessment of deposits will begin in the near future, it said. edition
“Nobody knows exactly what the volume of uranium deposits in Badakhshan is, but it is known that there is uranium there,” noted Anatoly Baranov, editor-in-chief of FORUM.msk. “In addition, there are many deposits of strategic raw materials, including tungsten and rare earth metals. It is true that Murghab, where snow lies even in summer, is of little use for life. But this is an important strategic point - Murghab lies on the Pamir Highway, thus the PRC will control the only transport artery in the Pamirs. In general, Tajikistan is a buckle of a soldier's belt with which Russia holds Central Asia, and the surrender of positions in Tajikistan is the surrender of the entire region, up to Orenburg and Astrakhan. Although, when the Russian border troops left the Tajik-Afghan border by Putin's decision, it was already clear that Russia was leaving the East, and someone would definitely come to replace it. China made a request that by the time the troops are withdrawn from Afghanistan, presumably, the US and Great Britain will make their move. Iran and Pakistan are interested. It reminds one of the division of the junk of the deceased, for whom boots, for whom a pea jacket ... "
At the same time, the information has not found any official confirmation either from the Tajik or Chinese side. However, there were no intelligible refutations either.
A little later, Kyrgyz journalists from the Vesti.kg portal clarified the situation a little. As the head of the Kyrgyz Border Service, Tokon Mamytov, told them, reports about the introduction of Chinese troops into Tajikistan are nothing more than a duck. “I just spoke on the phone this morning with the first deputy chairman of the State Committee for National Security of the Republic of Tajikistan, the head of the main directorate of the Tajik Border Troops, Mirzo Sherali, and he said that the situation is stable. Moreover, to say that China occupied the Murghab region means, at best, do not understand the processes taking place in Central Asia. Both Dushanbe and Beijing are SCO members who signed a series of documents within the framework of this organization on the observance of territorial integrity. Naturally, information that a friendly state suddenly, for no apparent reason, almost neighbors are wrong, "Mamytov said.
Experts have already suggested that the message could be an attempt to put pressure on Dushanbe from Moscow, which also claims to have influence in the region. However, it should be noted that the precedents of the “quiet” transfer of territories to the PRC by the countries of the former USSR have already taken place before, so that such a scenario in Tajikistan cannot be completely ruled out.