“Belt and Road” and the Role of Third Parties: A Geopolitical Analysis of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-701-9_6How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Belt and Road; China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway; Third-party Role; Geopolitical Contestation

Abstract

The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway reveals the general rule of intrinsic logic for geopolitical strategic games within the Eurasian space during its construction, which serves as an adept project node under the Belt and Road Initiative in Central Asia. The paper develops a 3D interactive analysis framework of the “core actors-third-party role-outcome delivery” based on close interactions among China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, while studying the functional modes and influence mechanisms of third-party actors, including Russia, the US, and Europe. The research argues that under the “strategic corridor construction+export of capacity advantages” mode driven, China advances project implementation by flexible financing, full-life-cycle technical support and policy strategies adapting to resistance; Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are stuck in a dual dilemma of “development demands or risk concerns”, both prioritizing national sovereignty in face of big-power competition; Russia shifts from “strategic obstruction” early to maintain its leadership in operation of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to more “tactical adjustments” after restructuring resources following the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which indicates a balance between geopolitical interests and practical constraints; other third-party forces constitute a multi-faceted role system involving dynamics such as “intervention, cooperation and wait-and-see”, impactee together on project process. The involvement of third-party forces has facilitated the transformation process of the geopolitical pattern of Central Asia. To some extent, it gained practical experience for the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Aimidan Abudukahaer
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/30
TI  - “Belt and Road” and the Role of Third Parties: A Geopolitical Analysis of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 11th International Conference on Social Sciences and Economic Development (ICSSED 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 47
EP  - 62
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-701-9_6
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-701-9_6
ID  - Abudukahaer2026
ER  -