China's Foreign Ministry called on Kyrgyzstan to take urgent measures to ensure the safety of Chinese nationals and institutions following a deadly blast at Beijing's embassy in Bishkek, capital of the Central Asian naiton. China says it will assist Kyrgyzstan in the investigation into the Aug. 30 suicide car-bomb blast that killed the driver and injured three embassy employees. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion has fallen on the Turkestan Islamic Party, a Uigur separatist organization formerly known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. China has growing economic interests in Kyrgyzstan under the "Silk Road" initiative, land route of the "One Belt, One Road" trade and infrastructure scheme which also includes a maritime leg through the Indian Ocean. (SCMP, Sept. 1; RFE/RL, Aug. 31; Nikkei Asian Review, The Standard, Hong Kong, Aug. 30)
Kyrgyzstan cancels Chinese project amid protests
Kyrgyzstan’s government has announced a decision to cancel a $275 million Chinese investment project in the east of the country following mass protests against it. The government said the decision to halt the plans to build a major logistics center was made due to protests “by some local residents of the At-Bashi district” in the Naryn region. The Kyrgyz-Chinese Ata-Bashi Free Economic Zone Joint Venture said the contract was annulled because “it is not possible to work on a large, long-term project amid circumstances” where part of the local population opposes construction of the logistics center. (RFE/RL)