DATE=8/24/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=KYRGYZSTAN SUMMIT PREVIEW (CQ)
NUMBER=5-44118
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
// RE-ISSUING TO CORRECT FIRST SENTENCE OF TEXT TO ADD
TAJIKISTAN AND DELETE TURKMENISTAN //
VOICED AT: The presidents of Russia, China and three
central Asian nations are gathering in Kyrgyzstan for
a summit focusing on regional cooperation. V-O-A's
Peter Heinlein in Moscow reports the two-day meeting
is expected to emphasize how much the central Asian
states rely on their larger and more powerful
neighbors.
TEXT: Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Chinese
President Jiang Zemin are attending the so-called
"Shanghai Five" summit, along with their counterparts
from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. The
group's name comes from the Chinese city where in 1996
the five countries signed a series of accords aimed at
building confidence along China's seven thousand
kilometer border with Russia and the central Asian
nations.
Tension was high along the border during much of the
Soviet period. But after the Soviet Union collapsed,
relations among China and the successor states have
improved. Trade between Moscow and Beijing has
flourished.
But eight years into independence, the economies of
the former Soviet central Asian republics continue to
be dominated by Russia. Trade routes from the region
almost inevitably run north through Russia or east
into China. Practically the only alternative is to
the south, through Afghanistan.
And as in Russia, the standard of living in the
central Asian nations has steadily fallen this decade.
The past year has been one of the worst, compounded by
Russia's financial turmoil and drops in the prices of
raw materials, on which the central Asian economies
depend.
/// OPT /// Vladimir Lukin, chairman of the foreign
relations committee in Russia's parliament, said
poverty and regional conflicts make central Asia one
of the most volatile regions.
/// OPT // LUKIN ACT - IN RUSSIAN, THEN FADE TO
VOICEOVER ///
This is the region where the most prolonged war in the
world is taking place, the Afghan war, which is
gradually expanding into a Tajikistan war. And this
is also the region of two of the biggest and most
important world powers.
/// END ACT ///
/// OPT /// Mr. Lukin said leaders of the Shanghai
five countries face several critical security issues.
/// OPT // LUKIN ACT W/VOICEOVER ///
Asian security is just as important as European
security, and must be developed in such a way that
Asian powers, including those great powers getting
together, have common positions on these problems.
/// END ACT // END OPT ///
Officials say the actual agenda for the Bishkek summit
will be brief. The business session of the five
leaders will only be for a few hours Wednesday. A
joint communique and a news conference are planned
afterward.
Chinese President Jiang and Russia's President Yeltsin
are expected to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines
of the summit. Mr. Yeltsin missed last year's
Shanghai Five meeting because of a series of
illnesses. But he has recently said he is feeling
much better after treatment for a back injury that had
been bothering him for years. (Signed)
NEB/PFH/JWH/PLM
24-Aug-1999 09:20 AM EDT (24-Aug-1999 1320 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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