Islam Karimov in Beijing?

[Puzzled]

It is reported that the uzbek dictator islam karimov has been in beijing for two days. strangely enough, there is no report at all about his visit on any chinese websites at all. i wonder if there are some stories behind it. can anyone try to shed some light on this?

[milliy merkez]

'Özbekistan Andican'daki Geliþmeleri Gizliyor'

26/05/2005




Ýnsan Haklarý Gözlem Örgütü, Özbek hükümetini, Andican kentindeki olaylarý gizlemeye çalýþmakla suçladý.

Merkezi Newyork’ta bulunan örgüt, hükümetin gerçek ölü sayýsýný örtbas etme çalýþtýðýný ileri sürüyor.

Görgü tanýklarýna göre, 13 Mayýs’ta askerlerin hükümet aleyhtarý göstericilerin üzerine ateþ açmasý sonucu en az 500 kiþi öldü .

Cumhurbaþkaný Ýslam Kerimov ise, olaylarý dincilerin ayaklanmasý olarak nitelemiþ, 32’si asker toplam 169 kiþinin öldüðünü ileri sürmüþtü.

Halen Çin’de bulunan Özbek Cumhurbaþkaný, olaylarla ilgili olarak uluslararasý soruþturma açýlmasý çaðrýlarýný da reddetmiþti.

Çin, Kerimov’un sertlik yanlýsý tutumunu destekleyen ender ülkelerden. Nedeni ise, Çinli yetkililerin, Doðu Türkistan’daki Uygur milliyetçilerin benzer ayaklanmalarýndan kaygý duymalarý.

Kerimov Pekin'de


Ýslam Kerimov ve Hu Jintao
Üç günlük resmi bir ziyaret için Pekin’e giden Kerimov, dün, Pekin’de 21 pare top atýþýyla karþýlandý. Kerimov, daha sonra, Cumhurbaþkaný Hu Jintao’yla, ikili iliþkiler ve her iki ülkeyi de ilgilendiren uluslararasý ve bölgesel sorunlarýn ele alýndýðý bir görüþme yaptý.

Özbek Cumhurbaþkaný bugün ise Çin’le bir dizi ticari anlaþma imzaladý. 14 antlaþmadan biri Özbekistan’ýn Çin’e 600 milyon Dolar tutarýnda petrol ve doðal gaz satmasýný öngörüyor.

Dýþiþleri Bakanlýðý sözcüsü Kong Quan, Çin'in Özbekistan'la her alanda iþbirliðini güçlendirmeye hazýr olduðunu söyledi.

Kong Quan, Pekin’de yaptýðý basýn toplantýsýnda, Orta Asya’nýn terörizm, bölücülük ve aþýrý uçlarýn tehditleriyle karþý karþýya bulunduðunu savundu; Çin ve Özbekistan'ýn bu tehlikelerle ortak mücadele etmesi gerektiðini söyledi. Kong Quan, her iki ülkenin siyaset, ekonomi, ticaret, eðitim, kültür, bilim, teknoloji ve gümrük alanlarýnda iþbirliði yapacaðýný, bölgenin barýþ ve istikrarýný korumak, geliþmesi ve refahýný artýrmak için de ortak çaba harcayacaklarýný vurguladý.

Pekin’de Kerimov’la görüþen Baþbakan Wen Jiabao ise, Çin-Özbek iliþkilerinin karþýlýklý saygý, eþitlik ve yarar ilkeleri doðrultusunda geliþtiðini, iki tarafýn önemli konularda anlayýþ içinde olduklarýný ifade etti. Özbek Cumhurbaþkaný Kerimov da, iki ülke arasýnda imzalanan Dostluk, Ýþbirliði ve Ortaklýk Ýliþkileri Anlaþmasý'nýn ikili iliþkilerin geliþmesi için büyük önem taþýdýðýný söyledi.

Özbekistan’ýn toplumsal karýþýklýklara sahne olan Andican kenti, Çin’in Sincan Özerk bölgesi, baþka bir deyiþle Doðu Türkistan yakýnlarýnda bulunuyor. Uluslararasý gözlemcilere göre yýllardýr baðýmsýzlýk yanlýsý Uygurlarý kontrol altýnda tutmaya çalýþan Çin, Özbekistan ve komþusu Kýrgýzistan’daki Ýslamcý hareketlerin topraklarýna sýçramasýndan ciddi kaygý duyuyor. Pekin hükümeti, Kerimov’un baskýcý rejimini destekleyerek hem bölücü unsurlara karþý bölgesel iþbirliðini artýrmaya, hem de petrol ithalatýný güvence altýna almaya çalýþýyor.

[Sultan]

The Chinese Leader Welcomed The Action Taken By The Uzbek Government In Stopping The Heroes In Andijan And i Think That This Is a Message To All The Uyghurs In Eastern Turkistan That They Will Face The Same Thing In Andijan If They Will Try To Do Anything.

The Terrorist Islam Karimov Will Get Full Support From Chine In This Visiting And Ofcourse They Will Agree On Anything Against Uyghurs.

i Heared That More Than 5000 Russian Soliders "Terrorist" Were In Andijan Sended By The Evil Government Of Russia To Help The Karimov.

Once Again Russia Shows It Hateful Heart Against The Turkic Race.

Death For China And Russia.

[John]

Secret talking has been continuing for dacades which result mass killings of ordinary peoples. This is the Chinese and Russian History.

Who are the true terrorists; The Russian and Chinese Authorities? Look back the history.

[milliy merkez]

Analysis: Uzbek leader escapes isolation
Martin Walker
United Press International
May 27, 2005

WASHINGTON -- In Beijing this week Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov
signed a treaty of partnership with China that set the seal on a $600
million oil deal with the China National Petroleum Corp., along with 14
cooperation agreements on trade, customs, high technology and energy.

The Uzbek leader is evidently not isolated, despite his blunt rejection of
calls from UN, US and European leaders for an independent inquiry into the
deaths of at least 169 people when troops suppressed the May 13 "bandit
uprising" in Andijan. (Other sources claim that more than 500 civilians
were killed.)

Karimov met Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao during his
three-day visit to Beijing, who said that they "firmly backed" his measures
to restore order. Meanwhile top Russian officials endorsed Karimov's claim
that his troops in Andijan were fighting a Taliban-backed Islamist
movement. They also supported the official Uzbek version that the trouble
began when Islamic militants attacked a police station and then an army
post, seizing arms, before staging a violent assault on a prison to free 23
detained Islamist businessmen.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the operation in
Andijan was planned and prepared with local dissidents and Islamists from
the Ferghana Valley region and also from Afghanistan "from the Taliban camp
and external extremist forces of the Taliban-type". Lavrov said that the
role of Taliban supporters was the result of the amnesty offered by Afghan
President Hamid Karzai to Taliban members not guilty of "atrocities against
the Afghan people".

"If we continue to condone terrorists and apply 'double standards' to them,
including the notion of a moderate wing to the Taliban, the entire region
is heading for a crisis," Lavrov said.

The Russians know that it is rather more complicated than that. Deputy
foreign minister Valery Loshchinin noted, when interviewed by Radio Mayak.
"The difficult socioeconomic conditions, a certain weakness of power, the
Islamic factor - all this combined with popular discontent over living
standards make the situation so explosive."

True or not, the official Russian version of events, along with China's
readiness to sign oil deals and hail Karimov in Beijing, makes it clear
that the Uzbek leader has diplomatic and material assets that buttress his
position, and also emphasize the strategic importance of this region of
Central Asia.

Tucked into that crucial geographic space between the nuclear powers of
Russia, China, India and Pakistan - with Iran possibly poised to join them
- Central Asia occupies some prime geopolitical real estate. This region,
where Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and the Russian Orthodox Church all meet,
also contains significant quantities of oil, some 50 million very poor
people and vast quantities of lucrative opium and other narcotics. Ousted
Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev has claimed that drug lords were among those
who overthrew him and that his successors are "practically hostages of the
narcotics mafia".

All this makes for a potentially explosive mix and Karimov is not the only
Central Asian leader looking for reliable friends and diplomatic options,
in the wake of the Andijan killings and the earlier revolution that toppled
the leadership of neighboring Kyrgyzstan.

The largest of the central Asian states is oil and gas-rich Kazakhstan,
whose President Nursultan Nazarbayev warned in his State of the Nation
address last month that "we are witnessing superpower rivalry for economic
dominance in our region. We have to address correctly this global and
geoeconomics challenge."

"We have a choice between remaining the supplier of raw materials to the
global markets and waiting patiently for the emergence of the next imperial
master or to pursue genuine economic integration of the Central Asian
region," he added. "I chose the latter."

The problem is that there are competing ways of pursuing that integration.
Russia seeks to maintain economic and political influence through the
much-faded institution, the Commonwealth of Independent States, along with
its control of oil pipelines and its access to military bases in Uzbekistan
and Kyrgyzstan. China seeks to exert its influence through the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization, the regional security forum that it founded.
Chinese foreign minister Li Zhaoxing will attend the next meeting in
Kazakhstan on June 4.

Kazakhstan itself is trying, with UN backing, to develop a regional
economic grouping called SPECA - Special Program for Economics in Central
Asia - that will be independent of the great powers, which includes
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan, with Afghanistan about to join. But the big powers have ways of
making their influence felt, not least by rallying to the support of a
controversial figure like Karimov in his hour of need. The more they back
Karimov now, the more they trust that he will depend on their support in
the future.

But the Russians and Chinese are not the only players. The United States
has its military base at Manas in Kyrgyzstan and the K2 (Karshi-Khanabad)
base in Uzbekistan. Indian oil companies already have 15 percent of
Kazakhstan's Alibekmola oil fields and a 10-percent holding in the
Kurmangazi fields. India has also been negotiating to invest in
hydroelectric power schemes in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and at least 20
percent of Uzbekistan's energy output. That is the deal China has now tried
to preempt, with its deal to invest and bring modern technology to 23 Uzbek
oil fields. The Uzbek oil sector is in trouble; output fell 7 percent last
year, to just more than 130,000 barrels a day.

On the horizon is looming something far bigger. Next month China is
scheduled to unveil its first independent energy giant, the Great-Wall
United Petroleum Company, which will start by raising roughly $600 million
to focus on gas exploration deals. Designed by the China Chamber of
Commerce for the Petroleum Industry to bring together over 100 small
private firms to compete with the state-owned PetroChina, Sinopec and China
National Offshore Oil Corp., the new Great Wall company is expected to be
more welcome in countries like Kazakhstan where the state-owned firms might
arouse some suspicion.

That will not be a concern in Uzbekistan, where Karimov and Beijing see eye
to eye on the need for stability and the dangers of dissidents. China has
its own concerns with the Muslim Uighur minority, some of whom seek
autonomy for the region of East Turkestan in China's far-western Xinjiang
province.

"East Turkestan separatists have carried out a lot of terrorist incidents
in China. The Uzbekistan side fully understands and supports the Chinese
government's stance on this issue," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Kong
Quan said this week, as Beijing's leaders declared their support for the
Uzbek president.