Politics

3 April 2025
The first EU-Central Asia Summit is taking place in Samarkand. (Nikkei montage)
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev meet in Khujand, Tajikistan, on March 31 with an eye on expanding regional trade. (Photos by Reuters)
International relations

Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to hold 1st trilateral summit

A border agreement involving the fertile Fergana Valley to be formalized

31 March 2025
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kazan, Russia, on Feb. 21. Kyrgyzstan's parliament recently passed a law on "foreign agents" similar to legislation Moscow imposed over a decade ago. (Sputnik via Reuters)
Politics

Kyrgyzstan takes page from Russia in pushing 'foreign agents' law

Critics urge President Japarov not to sign bill that would squeeze NGOs and media

22 March 2024
Wind turbines in Kazakhstan's Almaty region. Japan and five central Asian countries have inaugurated a new ministerial-level dialogue on decarbonization.
Climate Change

Japan launches new decarbonization dialogue with Central Asia

Tokyo aims to blunt Russian and Chinese influence in key region

27 September 2023
A report by Freedom House says the Chinese Communist Party "and its proxies are using more sophisticated and coercive tactics to shape media narratives and suppress critical reporting" -- accusations Beijing rejects.
Asia Insight

China builds global media muscle to amplify its message

Study shows how country with dismal press freedom record sways reporting abroad

20 September 2022
The delayed TAPI gas pipeline promises to link Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India, but security risks threaten this and other regional connectivity projects.
International relations

India's first Central Asia summit to focus on Afghan risks, trade

Shared security challenges loom over Thursday's talks and port, pipeline hopes

26 January 2022
Disinformation from some of Asia's ruling elites can thrive on Facebook, TikTok and Twitter due to inequality-driven distrust and democratic declines, new academic research says. (Source photo by AP and Reuters)
Politics

Viral lies spread democratic decay from Thailand to Nepal: report

Asia needs structural change, not just tech crackdown, USAID-backed scholars say

9 January 2022
The India-funded Chabahar Port in Iran in early 2019. New Delhi wants the site to become a gateway to trade with Central Asia. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
International relations

Spotlight on trade gateway as India hosts talks with Central Asia

Sunday discussions look set to focus on New Delhi-funded port in Iran

18 December 2021
A Kyrgyz woman studies her ballot during early voting in the constitutional referendum in April, which slimmed down parliament. The country's voters are set to cast ballots for the third time this year.
Politics

Weary Kyrgyz voters to elect parliament after alleged 'coup plot'

Sunday's rerun of botched 2020 polls comes as COVID stifles economy, China trade

27 November 2021
Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov has steadily strengthened the power of his office over the past year.
Politics

Kyrgyzstan faces 'hard winter' as Japarov marks 1 year at helm

President's power grows while analysts warn on freedom and living costs

15 October 2021
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Moscow on Feb. 24: They are due to meet again in Sochi.
International relations

Fresh off gold mine seizure, Kyrgyzstan president heads for Russia

Problems pile up for Japarov as Tajik border dispute simmers after deadly clashes

24 May 2021
Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov votes in the constitutional referendum in Bishkek on April 11.
Politics

Kyrgyz referendum grants Japarov full power: preliminary results

Armed with revised constitution, president faces pressure to keep promises

12 April 2021
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov takes part in his inauguration ceremony in Bishkek in January. Just a few months earlier, he was in a jail cell.
Politics

Kyrgyzstan power play culminates in Sunday constitution vote

President Japarov poised to gain virtually total control in 'huge shift'

10 April 2021
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan recently signed bilateral agreements with Uzbekistan intended to boost activity in the virtually idle port of Gwadar. 
Belt and Road

Pakistan promotes Belt and Road port for Central Asian trade

Move expected to increase volume of goods moving through Gwadar

18 March 2021
Sadyr Japarov, who was in prison a little over three months ago, positioned himself as a "man of the people" and trounced his election rivals.
Politics

China and Russia to test Japarov after Kyrgyz election cakewalk

Central Asian state's new president faces pressure to deliver as economy sinks

11 January 2021
Kyrgyzstan presidential candidate Sadyr Japarov attends an election rally on Dec. 30. As recently as October, he was serving a 10-year sentence for organizing a kidnapping.
Politics

Kyrgyzstan election odds favor strongman rule after 2020 turmoil

Prison-to-presidency populist Japarov expected to win Sunday as China watches

8 January 2021
Workers remove a fence around Kyrgyzstan's house of parliament in Bishkek, which was stormed by protesters in October following the tainted parliamentary election.
International relations

China offers cash-strapped Kyrgyzstan a glimmer of hope on debt

$35m deferral would temporarily ease pressure amid COVID and political upheaval

3 December 2020
Kyrgyzstan's new Acting President Sadyr Japarov speaks in parliament in Bishkek on Oct. 16, less than two weeks after he was sprung from jail.
Politics

Kyrgyzstan prison-to-presidency power grab proceeds as China frets

Expert sees 'Trump effect' behind Acting President Sadyr Japarov's rapid rise

30 October 2020
Kyrgyzstan's President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, shown here after a vote at an Oct. 4 parliamentary election, resigned Oct. 15.
Politics

Kyrgyzstan president quits, saying he doesn't want to shoot citizens

Convicted kidnapper emerges as contender to lead chaotic Central Asian country

16 October 2020
A demonstrator wears the Kyrgyzstan national flag during a protest against the results of a parliamentary election in the capital Bishkek on Oct. 6.
Politics

Kyrgyzstan faces political vacuum as president denounces 'coup'

Tainted election results declared invalid in bid to quell unrest

7 October 2020
Women in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on July 13: The country continues to insist it is coronavirus-free.
Coronavirus

WHO leaves Turkmenistan in COVID gray zone as neighbors face surge

Central Asian nation says it has no cases but is advised to act like it does

18 July 2020
Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov arrives at the Kremlin before the Victory Day Parade in Moscow on June 24.
Politics

Kyrgyzstan internet law raises fears for free speech in COVID fog

Critics say bill, ostensibly aimed at false virus info, would enable corruption

3 July 2020
A bridge construction site of the Bar-Boljare highway, pictured in June 2018: for Montenegro any concerns were far outweighed by the potential economic benefit of the new road.
Opinion

For developing world, Belt and Road Initiative is best deal around

China's infrastructure offer supports economic growth in Europe, Africa and Asia

6 May 2020
A Kazakh crew disinfects the streets of the capital, Nur-Sultan, on March 25. The country was the first to record COVID-19 cases in Central Asia.
Coronavirus

Central Asia virus responses run gamut from crisis to nonchalance

Pandemic tests economies, health systems, China ties -- and folk remedies

1 April 2020
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lambasted China for its treatment of its Muslim minorities on his visit to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
International relations

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan spurn US call to confront China

Pompeo's plea to end 'repression' of Muslim minorities also draws Chinese ire

13 February 2020
Foreign students in Japan are allowed to work in unskilled-labor positions, such as convenience store work, for up to 28 hours per week. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi) 
Japan immigration

Japan intensifies crackdown on student visa overstayers

Number of countries subject to stricter checks to increase tenfold

11 February 2020
Despite the fanfare surrounding use of Gwadar port for trade with Afghanistan, experts say the facility has a long way to go before China sees any return on its investment.
Belt and Road

Beijing-backed Pakistan port opens as hub for Afghanistan trade

Gwadar challenges Indian interests in region, but China's ROI remains unclear

23 January 2020
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin: The Russian leader announced in September that the EAEU would start talks on a trade deal with India.
International relations

Russia woos India to sign trade pact with Eurasian Economic Union

Moscow hopes to show global heavyweights take its bloc seriously

15 January 2020
Central Asia's most populous country has the veneer of a multiparty system but no true opposition.
Politics

Uzbekistan election exposes limits of image-polishing reforms

China's economic influence will inevitably become political, experts say

19 December 2019
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in a written interview with the Nikkei Asian Review, said joining the World Trade Organization and cracking down on corruption are among his immediate priorities.
Interview

Uzbekistan plans over $6bn in joint projects with Japan

President Mirziyoyev to pitch resource development during Japan trip

18 December 2019