Secretary Pompeo’s Central Asian Tour
Secretary Pompeo met with Central Asian Foreign Ministers last week. (Flickr)
On a recent trip abroad, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced Chinese foreign policy in the region as he traveled to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, the United Kingdom, and Belarus, returning to the United States on February 3. The tour, which signaled a shift in American policy in the region, came as a reaction to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to invest more than 1.3 billion dollars in Asian infrastructure over the next 20 years.
Pompeo’s goals on his trip were twofold. In part, the trip aimed to counter Chinese influence in Central Asia and attack the Chinese Communist Party’s policies at large. Pompeo focused on the forced internment and re-education of Uighur Muslims, calling on all nations to work together to “press for an immediate end to this repression.” He also attacked China’s economic policy in Central Asia; Pompeo specifically referred to China’s lending practices, which he denounced as “politically driven transactions.”
Another goal of the Central Asian trip was to boost regional cooperation in an attempt to reduce regional dependence on China. In Kazakhstan, Pompeo met with ministers of the C5+1, a “format for dialogue and a platform for joint efforts to address common challenges faced by the United States and the five Central Asian states.” His speech at the conference focused on the importance of collaboration between the six nations, especially regarding the peace process in Afghanistan, fighting terrorism, illegal immigration, human and drug trafficking. Pompeo also discussed the importance of just and fair investment, advising the nations to work with American companies instead of Chinese ones.
Kazakhstan, one of America’s major allies in the regions (and the home of several vital oilfields), was commended by Pompeo for its repatriation of ISIS fighters to Afghanistan, as well as its work with ExxonMobil, an American oil company that is developing several oilfields in the country. Pompeo also visited Uzbekistan and praised its recent progress, noting its greater focus on human rights and its newfound pursuit of “religious freedom, the liquidation of forced labor and child labor, and the creation of the conditions for freedom of speech.”
Pompeo’s trip to the region was followed by the unveiling of America’s new Central Asia strategy. The new strategy, which seeks to foster intra-regional cooperation, also named Afghanistan as a Central Asian nation. This labeling of Afghanistan marks a change in U.S. foreign policy, which under previous administrations regarded Afghanistan as a special case in the region. According to Ambassador Alice Wells, principal deputy assistant secretary for South and Central Asia, America “can play now in Central Asia.” Pompeo’s recent trip perhaps heralds America’s return to the field.