China Pounces in Central Asia

China has been making gradual gains at Russia's expense in Central Asia. Those gains just accelerated. And China isn't trying to muffle their growing influence. Can Russia really ignore this erosion of a huge buffer against a powerful country with actual territorial grievances against Russia? Unlike the fake claims about NATO aggression?

Huh: 

Uzbek and Chinese delegations produced numerous announcements and agreements, but the most notable may be their upgrading of the Uzbekistan-China relationship to an “all-weather” comprehensive strategic partnership. ...

And Tashkent recently secured Qatar’s support for the 573-kilometer Trans-Afghan Railway to connect Uzbekistan to Pakistan via Afghanistan,

I've long hoped that Russian-Chinese tensions in Central Asia would be a means to distract China away from the Pacific where our traditional allies remain vulnerable to rising Chinese power and ambitions.

The deal with Uzbek in particular seems like an open slap at Russia's position in Central Asia dramatically different than the politely quiet inroads China has made up to now.  China is letting the "friend" part of its frenemy relationship with weaker Russia slip.

What happens when that fake Xi smile turns into a feral grin of recognized opportunity?

Yet Russia fiddles in Ukraine while their former "Stans" in Central Asia burn. Hell, Russia took the opportunity--while still stuck in Ukraine--to give the former Soviet republics reason to turn to China!

Strategery. Hell, I'm quite serious that the paranoid Russian leadership could look at Putin's record and conclude it is obvious that China sent Putin to Russia much like Germany sent Lenin to Russia!

But I digress.

I suppose China figures, what's Russia going to do about it now? Is this Chinese threat to Russia the lever to finally flip Russia to the West?

Neither Russia nor America want China to have a secure master-and-vassal relationship with Central Asian states. This common goal is the path to a real defection of Russia from Chinese dominance based on a common recognized enemy rather than one based on throwing Ukraine under the bus and hoping that will sate the Russian territorial ambitions in the west. 

NOTE: The image was made from DALL-E. 

NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.

NOTE: I'm adding updates on the Last Hamas War in this post.