Moscow and Beijing should work together to resist external interference in Central Asia, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday, following accusations that foreign nationals were involved in recent unrest in Kazakhstan.
Wang’s comments came after a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in which the two foreign ministers discussed the situation in Central Asia’s largest country. Last week, the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) sent a multinational peacekeeping force to Kazakhstan after initially peaceful protests over fuel prices turned violent. Beijing has supported Moscow’s response to the crisis.
Both China and Russia have a land border with Kazakhstan, and its stability is seen as essential for peace in the region.