Kazakhstan: Bloggers see China’s “weaponless invasion” · Global Voices
Askhat Yerkimbay

Image by Flickr user guccio (CC-usage).
Posts about China-related topics are quite frequent in the Kazakh language blogs. Here are some of them, the most recent ones. Some time ago, Akzere published a post titled “China – place of grooms” [KAZ].  The post tells the interesting story of Chinese men eager to  have a family. A girl who is a university student posted an  advertisement hoping to meet a young man.  However, she didn’t expect to  see almost 2000 men in front of her dormitory!  One of her readers, Meirzhan, remarks,
“The quantitative inequality between men and women in  modern China has turned into one of the most important problems of our  time that nobody dares to discuss.”
Meirzhan discusses the difficulties of obtaining citizenship for Kazakhs who want to return from China in his post on Neweurasia [KAZ].  He posted another article on the same topic in his own blog, called “Kazakhstan does not need Kazakhs from abroad” [KAZ]:
“If you come closer to the city or regional office  responsible for the visas and registration of foreigners, you will see  our brothers from China, thronging there, not able to get a visa to  their motherland (Kazakhstan). And look at this: Chinese and Uighurs,  who need the same document, give their red passports and get the  necessary stamp and blue paper with Kazakh symbols without any trouble.  But Kazakhs don’t have this privilege, it is restricted for Kazakhs;  they are told ‘to wait’.”
Revolted by the situation, Meirzhan also quotes the following opinion of a close friend:
“The Kazakhs who live abroad think that to gather Kazakhs  scattered all over the world is the number one problem to be solved.  The notion that Kazakhstan does not need them has never crossed their  mind.”
The fact that our brothers from China face language problems (they  don’t speak Russian) and cultural challenges when coming back to  Kazakhstan is widely discussed across the Kaznet.  Fortunately, there  exist people who can help them.  For example, a recent post by blogger Bahtgul65 (who lives in Ustkamenogorsk), entitled “I wish you success, Nurzhan” [KAZ], is about a 22-year-old student who came from China:
“… I was working.  A group of youngsters were eating at  the café. When they were leaving, one of them approached me and asked:  ‘Auntie, do you have any vacancies? My sister is looking for a job.’ I  wrote his name and phone number down, intending to call, in case I  needed somebody. We started talking.
It turned out that Nurzhan was a 22-year-old student who had moved  from China. He said that he would love to open a café like mine, but  that he was bad at documents and did not know Russian.  ‘Even Kazakhs  speak Russian here,’ he remarked.
Nurzhan’s parents passed away when they came back to Kazakhstan. He has two younger sisters to take care of.”
Blogger Ertai, who lives and studies in China, writes very interesting posts on social and political issues there.  In his post. “Military competition” [KAZ], he writes about how the Chinese’ military wants to outperform  the Americans.  He also gives the following extract from the book Chinese Dream, written by a Chinese colonel:
“In the next 10-20 years China will not escape from any  war. Because China is surrounded by enemy countries that have  connections with the US, Washington might ’set on fire’ the back gates  of China. In this case China can set on fire the backyard of the US, as  well.”
Ertai’s next post [KAZ], entitled, “China’s weaponless invasion,” is about Chinese cultural expansion.  He writes:
“In recent years, the number of young people from Central  Asia who have come to learn the Chinese language and culture has  remarkably increased. According to information by the regional  Department of Education, the number of foreign students is about 3.2  thousand. Currently in the states of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and  Turkmenistan, new Confucian institutes, Chinese language courses, and  special centers are being opened.”
The author also notes that in the last year Chinese and Kazahstani  officials have met five times.  So, the more Kazakhstan’s relations with  China intensify, the more China’s influence on Kazakh society will  become visible in the Kaznet.  Everybody should stay tuned.
Also posted on neweurasia.