Cablegate: Chinese Soft Power in Kyrgyzstan

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TAGS: PREL PGOV KPAO KG CH
SUBJECT: Chinese Soft Power in Kyrgyzstan

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1. (SBU) Summary: China is making inroads in Kyrgyzstan, a country
that has traditionally gravitated toward Russia. The Chinese
Embassy in Bishkek recently achieved a public diplomacy coup when it
agreed to donate 20,000 satellite receiver boxes in exchange for
permission to broadcast two television channels in the capital city.
One of the television channels has already begun rebroadcasting
programs from Central China Television in Russian. This program,
together with the Confucius Centers already established at two
universities, a Kyrgyz-language television show produced in China,
and the highly visible QChina AidQ buses on the streets of Bishkek
is significantly increasing Chinese influence in Kyrgyzstan. End
Summary.

TV Station In Exchange For Satellite Receivers
--------------------------------------------- -

2. (SBU) In early 2009, the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek announced
that it would provide 20,000 satellite receiver boxes to needy
residents of mountainous, isolated, Batken Oblast in southern
Kyrgyzstan. In exchange for the satellite receiver boxes, the
Chinese were promised permission to broadcast two television
channels in Bishkek. With distribution of satellite boxes underway,
the Chinese have already begun broadcasting on one new channel that
is dedicated to Central China Television programming. At the
ceremony to mark the start of Central China Television broadcasting,
the Chinese Ambassador said, "Now Kyrgyz viewers can get information
about international events, including from China. They can also
become more familiar with our culture."

3. (SBU) The Central China Television channel is in addition to a
weekly Kyrgyz-language Chinese program on People's Television and
Radio Company, a Kyrgyz state-owned channel. The Kyrgyz-language
program is only broadcast one hour per week and is dedicated mostly
to the lives of ethnic Kyrgyz in China.

High-Visibility Chinese Humanitarian Assistance
--------------------------------------------- --

4. (SBU) China has also made public diplomacy inroads in Kyrgyzstan
through highly-visible assistance projects. In 2008, the Chinese
government donated 50 brightly-colored Chinese-made buses to the
Bishkek city administration. There were initially some hiccups in
the donation of the buses, including a long delay in delivery and
negative public reaction over the low quality of the buses, which
have wooden floors on the inside. However, the buses have become a
visible symbol of Chinese assistance to Kyrgyzstan. It was recently
reported that Bishkek will receive a grant of 80 million yuan
($11,715,000) from the Chinese government to buy 100 more Chinese
buses in 2011. Nearly every garbage truck in the capital city also
bears the "China Aid" logo.

Chinese Language Education
--------------------------

5. (U) The Chinese have opened two Confucius Centers in Kyrgyzstan,
at Kyrgyz National University and Bishkek Humanities University.
The major goal of the centers is to promote the study of Chinese,
and at Bishkek Humanities University alone, over 2,000 students
major in Chinese. The Confucius Center at Bishkek Humanities has
two well-equipped libraries with internet access and a language lab
with 40 audio-visual cubicles for Chinese language study.

6. (U) The Confucius Center also organizes festivals, distributes
Russian and Chinese-language publications about China(including a
Russian-language periodical, "Kontimost," which is distributed
throughout the former Soviet Union), sponsors language immersion
camps for students, offers Chinese language testing, and organizes
trips to China. Every year, there is an international conference
for all 250 Confucius Centers worldwide and the directors of both
the university and the Confucius Center are invited to attend.

Love-Hate Relationship
----------------------

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7. (SBU) Despite Chinese public diplomacy efforts, China is up
against pervasive negative stereotypes in local society. In the
past year, there were several scandals involving Chinese consumer
goods and foods tainted by toxins. Despite the popularity of the
sprawling, largely-Chinese "Dordoi" market, "Chinese-made" is
short-hand for cheap, poor-quality, and sometimes dangerous goods.

8. (SBU) The Kyrgyz press regularly publishes China-phobic stories.
On January 13, the pro-Russian investigative newspaper, "Delo
Nomer," published two full-page articles about perceived threats
from China. The first full-page article speculates that the Chinese
"Triad" mafia may be operating in Kyrgyzstan. The second article
says that the Chinese have adopted an "unwritten slogan of 'go forth
and multiply.'" The article alleges that the Chinese are making a
concerted effort to "take over the planet." According to the
article, estimates of the number of Chinese living in Kyrgyzstan
vary from between 10,000 (official information) and 100,000. There
may be a link between such negative press and violence against
Chinese migrants Q in November 2009, the Chinese Embassy issued a
warden message about an uptick in extortion and violence against
Chinese citizens in Kyrgyzstan.

Public Diplomacy Scandal of "Epic" Proportions
--------------------------------------------- -

9. (SBU) China also faced a public diplomacy scandal when, in the
fall of 2009, the Kyrgyz press reported that China had petitioned
UNESCO for recognition of the Kyrgyz epic "Manas" as a "masterpiece
of intangible cultural heritage." On October 22, online information
agency "24.kg" reported that China had succeeded in registering the
"Manas" epic with UNESCO as a Chinese epic, likely on the grounds
that 200,000 ethnic Kyrgyz live in China. On October 23, the press
reported that China had agreed to share recognition of "Manas" with
Kyrgyzstan, meaning that "Manas" would be a cultural treasure of
both the ethnic Kyrgyz in China and of Kyrgyzstan. However, the
damage had been done. China's attempt to co-opt the national epic
has captured the local imagination and is still being hotly debated
in the local press.
10. (SBU) On January 19, opposition Kyrgyz-language newspaper,
"Nazar," featured a front-page, sensationalist headline on Chinese
political, economic and cultural expansion. The two full pages in
"Nazar" on the "Manas" controversy included the following summary
statement: "China's latest sly tricks include: 1) attempts to
appropriate our great spiritual heritage like 'Manas;' 2) using
'Manas' to cause discord between Chinese-Kyrgyz and
Kyrgyz-Kyrgyz...who are already divided by mountains and
borders; and 3) possibly taking possession of our land and our
people via [Chinese] economic and political expansion. Our
blood-brothers, the Kyrgyz on the other side of the Ala-Too
Mountains [in China], can be used as a tool by China to implement
all these goals."
Comment
-------

11. (SBU) Historically, Kyrgyzstan has gravitated toward Russia
while fearing its next door neighbor, China. However, through a
combination of economic soft power and public diplomacy efforts, the
Chinese are beginning to make inroads into Kyrgyzstan. Although
signs of China-phobia remain, the successful visit to China by Maxim
Bakiyev, the son of the President and Head of the Central Agency for
Development, Investment and Innovation (septel), the week of January
10, is one indication of the growing importance to Kyrgyzstan of its
relationship with China. End comment.

Gfoeller

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