SINO-CENTRAL ASIAN RELATIONS AND SINO-US RIVALRY IN THE REGION: A STUDY.

The foreign policy of a country is mostly determined by its geography. The geography compels sovereign states to cultivate relations with their neighboring countries to attain some predetermined interests. Similarly, China has created and maintained quite friendly relations with almost all Central Asian states to fulfill its ever-increasing energy needs and contain the escalating security threat being posed by the assorted terrorist, extremist, militant and separatist groups in the region. Since China is projected to overtake the US in terms of exporting energy resources by 2030, the communist state is striving hard to foster all sorts of ties with the energy-rich the Central Asian states. However, the growing Chinese closeness and affinity with the region have made the US apprehensive of the potential and ominous rise of China which could well dwarf and outclass the US in the regional. Therefore, it has led the US to craft strategies aimed at challenging and obstructing the increasing Chinese engagement with the region. Thus, it has instigated a kind of competition and low-intensity rivalry between the US and China in the region. Such a cut-throat completion would create marvelous opportunities and mounting issues for the regional countries. The article analysis China's economic and defence relations with all the Central Asian countries. It also discusses the escalating Chinese interests and the region's importance for China. In the end, the paper throws light on the impending competition and rivalry between China and the US in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]