It is just a tiny grocery store in a decrepit, Khruschev-era five-story apartment block in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan – but it is flooded with shoppers, 24 hours a day.
One of the more remarkable occurrences in Central Asian politics this year was the sight of thousands of Kazakhs taking to the streets to protest at the shoo-in, far from democratic election of longtime president Nursultan Nazarbayev’s handpicked successor Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev in early June.
Beijing needed testing grounds for risky investments.
Over the past two decades, the president’s office has instituted at least six ad hoc commissions to defuse some kind of political impasse. The latest is not off to an auspicious start.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Saturday that China stands ready to promote China-Kazakhstan relations to a new level.
If it walks like a president, talks like a president, and has powers on par with a president…
