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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 000056 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND SCA/PPD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPAO KG CH
SUBJECT: Chinese Soft Power in Kyrgyzstan 
 
BISHKEK 00000056  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶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 
---------------------- 
 
 
BISHKEK 00000056  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶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