Political cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and China during this period was characterized by positive interaction and stable dynamics of visits at various levels. This has gradually led to an atmosphere of mutual understanding and trust. The trade turnover has been steadily growing; a new transportation infrastructure was created, while the old one has been improved; and cooperation between the two countries in other fields has also reached a significant level.

Bishkek and Beijing have actively cooperated in international and regional organizations, among which the most important was the Shanghai Five, which was later re-organized into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Most topical issues between the two countries, which hampered bilateral interaction and, to a large extent, the continued progressive development of relations, were settled during the period before 2005 - when the sensitive border problem was solved, and the main political document, the "Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation," was signed.

Despite the existing serious concerns from both sides, the dramatic events of 24 March 2005 in Kyrgyzstan, which led to the sudden change of top country leadership and the victory of opposition forces, did not become a cause for significant cooling or radical re-examination of bilateral relations.  They only they caused a certain pause in the relations.

The potential accumulated in during the previous bilateral interactions has allowed both sides to overcome the difficulties of the current situation. However, it should be recognized that the ambiguity and precariousness of the political situation in Kyrgyzstan after the "Tulip Revolution" and, as a consequence, the vagueness and unstable character of foreign policy orientations of the new Kyrgyz leadership initially caused some tension between Kyrgyz-Chinese relations and the cautious attitude on the part of Beijing. The leaders of the P.R.C., according to Chinese experts, did not expect such major perturbations in the neighboring country. The concern, on Beijing's part, pertained to the new authorities in Kyrgyzstan immediately after the "Tulip Revolution." These can most likely be explained by a number of circumstances, among which we can specify the following:

• instability of the political situation in Kyrgyzstan and the lack of unity on the key issues of the country's development strategy not only between the branches of power, but even inside the new governmental team;
• coming to power of some opposition leaders who earlier supported anti-Chinese ideas;
• volatility in the foreign policy priorities of the new leadership the lack of a clear succession, common approaches, and the lack of unity concerning the relations with China, especially on sensitive for the official Beijing issues;
• criticism of the achievements and signed treaties and agreements in the previous period of the Kyrgyz-Chinese relations (1992-2005) by individual Kyrgyz politicians;
• potential risks of destabilization in the Xinjian Uigur Autonomous Region under the influence of the situation in Kyrgyzstan;
• strengthening of external, especially American, influence on Kyrgyzstan.

Taking into account these factors, Beijing did not force the events and took a wait-and-see attitude, thus granting the right of initiative to the Kyrgyz side. It is remarkable that during a year after the mentioned events there had not been mutual visits at the highest level between the two sides, and the political contacts between the top leaders of the two countries were limited to short protocol meetings within the framework of multilateral forums. There was a meeting of the Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev with the Chinese President Hu Jintao during the SCO summit in Astana in July 2005 and a meeting of the Kyrgyz Prime Minister Felix Kulov with the Prime Minister of the State Council of the P.R.C. Wen Jiabao during the SCO meeting of the heads of governments in Moscow in September 2005.

It should be noted that those meetings were more of an introductory, "estimating'' character and could not lead to the full restoration of relations.  Beijing was still cautious because the position of Kyrgyz leadership in a number of key issues for China was not quite clear. Besides, some Kyrgyz politicians, including high officials, still supported the idea of re-examining the relationship with China and especially the Kyrgyz-Chinese agreements on border issues.

In that situation, both parties focused on preparations for the visit of the President Kurmanbek Bakiev in China, which took place on June 9-10, 2006, believing that it would remove existing concerns, discord and problems in the bilateral relationship. Each side had its own goals and expectations of the visit. Beijing's expectations of the visit were connected primarily with the political component of the cooperation. The top leadership of China hoped not only to understand the position of the President of Kyrgyzstan on the key issues of the bilateral relations and Kyrgyz regional and international policies, but also to get confirmation of its firmness and stability in the foreseeable future. In general, the most important thing for Beijing was the possibility of restoring a climate of political trust between the two countries. In the Kyrgyz-Chinese relations the degree of political trust between the leaders and the level of cooperation in the field of security have always determined and will continue to determine the dynamics of the relations in other areas, especially in trade and economic relations, and in the implementation of major economic projects. Beijing's willingness to restore full cooperation depended on the position of the Kyrgyz leadership on the following issues:

• the Taiwan and Tibet issue ;
• the joint fight against Xinjian separatism, extremism and terrorism;
• continuity and commitment of the Kyrgyz leadership to the previously signed bilateral treaties and agreements, especially of political nature and those resolving the border issue;
• the U.S. military presence in Kyrgyzstan;

The above issues to varying degrees were included in the agenda for the talks between the President Kurmanbek Bakiev and the top political leadership of China and were reflected in the joint Declaration after the visit signed by the heads of the two countries. Confirmation of continuity and firm commitment from the new Kyrgyz leadership to the earlier signed agreements (political in nature and those resolving the border issue), were the main concerns to the content of Kurmanbek Bakiev's visit in China. 

There had been concerns that the lack of a clear position of the new Kyrgyz leader on those issues during the negotiations could make Beijing doubt about the stable position of Kyrgyzstan and its sincere interest in maintaining and developing friendly relations with China; which could have frozen the good relations between the countries. The official statement made by the new President of the Kyrgyz Republic on its firm commitment to the previous agreements and the agreements reached during his first visit to China, despite the existence of serious domestic political opponents, was seen by experts from both countries as a significant step on the part of Bishkek to restore mutual political trust and confidence in full.

In a joint Declaration the parties confirmed their adherence to the principles, declared in the political documents signed and published during the period of 14 years; expressed their satisfaction with the progress achieved since the establishment of diplomatic relations in political, economic, humanitarian and security fields; and agreed that the Kyrgyz-Chinese friendship meets the fundamental interests of the peoples of the two countries and also contributes to the development and peace in the region.

The statement by the two parties on strict compliance with the "Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation Between the Kyrgyz Republic and the People's Republic of China" and the "Program of Cooperation Between the Kyrgyz Republic and the People's Republic of China for 2004-2014," as well as recognition of great historical significance of the "Protocol between the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and the People's Republic of China on the Demarcation Line of the Kyrgyz-Chinese State Border" and the map of the state border between the Kyrgyz Republic and the People's Republic of China as its appendix, which marked the final resolution of the border issue by the two countries, has been very important.

The parties committed themselves to strictly abide by all the agreements and documents on border issues between the two states and make active efforts to turn the state border between the two countries into a zone of perpetual peace and friendship, maintained from generation to generation. Officially, Bishkek reaffirmed its commitment to the one-China policy. It confirmed that it opposes any form of "Taiwan independence," including "legalization of Taiwan independence," and it is against the attempts to create "two Chinas," "one China, one Taiwan."  Furthermore, it is against Taiwan's participation in any international organization, to which only sovereign states can be parties. The Kyrgyz side stated that it would not establish any official relations with Taiwan and would not maintain official contacts with it. For its part, Beijing confirmed its support for the efforts made by the Kyrgyz Republic to ensure its independence, national sovereignty and territorial integrity, strengthen internal stability and develop national economy; Beijing also praised the contribution of Kyrgyzstan to stability, security and cooperation in Central Asia.

As for the issue of combating terrorism, extremism and separatism, the heads of the two states confirmed that they would strengthen coordination and cooperation between the law enforcement agencies and security bodies of both countries.  As well, both promised to continue within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to take effective measures to jointly combat all forms of terrorism, including the terrorist forces of "East Turkistan," in order to ensure peace and stability in the two countries and in the region. The heads of the two countries stressed that the fight against terrorist forces of "East Turkistan" is an important part of the international anti-terrorist struggle. Kyrgyzstan and China will maintain and develop the contacts and cooperation between military agencies of the two countries. The issue of the American military presence in Kyrgyzstan was also one of the most important moments in the political agenda of Kurmanbek Bakiev's visit in China. China has repeatedly stated that it understands and shares the position of Kyrgyzstan, which provided a ground Air Force base for the Anti-terrorist coalition to combat terrorist forces in Afghanistan. The previous leadership of KR had coordinated this decision with its partners in the CSTO and SCO.

However, China firmly and strongly supports the idea of determining time constraints for operation of the airbase in "Manas" and opposes the expansion of its mandate beyond the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan. Apparently, during the talks, the Chinese leadership succeeded in persuading the President Kurmanbek Bakiev and enlisted his support. In the joint Declaration, Kyrgyzstan and China stated that they "will not allow the third parties to use its territory at the expense of national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the other side, and will not allow the establishment on its territory and the activities of the organizations and associations, posing a threat to the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the other side."

The economic component of Bakiev's visit in China became less important in the agenda of the talks, and as a result, there were neither achievements nor breakthrough solutions, despite the statements by individual Kyrgyz politicians. During the visit, China, not considering Kyrgyzstan among its main economic partners in the region, China also confined itself to granting 70 million yuan (approximately 10.3 miilion US dollars) to support the Kyrgyz economy, and, at the request of the Kyrgyz government, it provided a governmental loan to build a cement plant in the town of Kyzyl-Kiya in southern Kyrgyzstan. As for the economic projects which Kyrgyzstan had been trying to promote for several years, the construction of the China-KR-Uzbekistan railway and the export of Kyrgyz electricity to China,  the Chinese side, as  expected, proposed further study; which could mean that China was not really interested in their realization. This is because the Chinese side doubts the economic and financial effectiveness of both projects. Besides, they are quite expensive (in total they require more than 2 billion U.S. dollars). But, more importantly, both projects, if realized, may directly influence the socio-economic situation in Xinjian. It should also be noted that the Kyrgyz side was unable to provide convincing evidence to meet the required capacity for stable export supply of electricity. (The energy crisis in Kyrgyzstan in 2008 confirmed the fears on the Chinese side). The Chinese leadership, unconfident in the stability of political and economic situation in Kyrgyzstan, is not interested in making Xinjiang dependent on the situation in Kyrgyzstan and on the changes in the preferences of Kyrgyz political elites.

In general, the visit of the Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev in China was largely political in nature and, as acknowledged by both sides, was aimed primarily at the conclusion of the pause in bilateral relations after the events of  March 24, 2005. Despite the lack of breakthrough solutions in the economic field (to expect a breakthrough would have been unrealistic), it must be recognized that the aim - the establishment of working contacts with top political leaders of China and restoration of political trust between the two countries - was, in principle, reached.  This could be considered the most important outcome of the visit of Kurmanbek Bakiev. Thus, since the second half of 2006, as a result of the visit of the Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev to China, the bilateral cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and China has been gradually restored. The contacts between Ministries and agencies have been re-established, the number of mutual visits at all levels has increased, and the trade turnover between the two countries has been increasing as well, the amount doubling each year (according to the Chinese side, it reached 3.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2007).

The Governments of both countries again began to work on the rehabilitation of infrastructure projects, including the road Osh-SaryTash-Irkeshtam, and reached agreement on the rehabilitation of the road Torugart-Naryn-Bishkek. The Chinese side resumed the provision of annual grant assistance to Kyrgyzstan for the socio-economic development in the amount of 50 million yuan (approximately 7.4 million US dollars) a year. Entrepreneurs in both countries have become more active, realizing many small and medium-sized projects in various fields. However, in the first half of 2007, the Kyrgyz-Chinese relations were marred by a "spy scandal" (the arrest of an employee of the press service of the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan on a charge of spying for China), which broke out during the preparations for the first visit of the Chinese President Hu Jintao to Kyrgyzstan. The parties took measures to resolve the situation and prevent its worsening. The State Committee of National Security of KR, which had made the arrest, formally declared that the Chinese special services were not involved in the incident. However, despite the fact that the statement generally satisfied the Chinese side, it raised doubts about the aim of that action on the part of Kyrgyz special services. On August 14-15, 2007, the Chinese President Hu Jintao for the first time, officially visited Kyrgyzstan.  This was in return for the visit of the Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev to China. The visit of the Chinese leader in Bishkek was widely covered by local governmental media, which expected Chinese investment and emphasized that official Beijing supported the new Kyrgyz leadership, headed by Kurmanbek Bakiev. During the meetings and talks, the sides discussed a wide range of the bilateral relations issues. As a result of the negotiations, more than ten bilateral documents were signed. The President of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiev, confirmed during the talks that China was an important political and economic partner of Kyrgyzstan, and the development of comprehensive relations with it was a priority in the foreign policy of Kyrgyzstan.

Kurmanbek Bakiev clearly stated once again that the Kyrgyz side had no intention of reviewing and would strictly adhere to all the previously achieved agreements and treaties. The President of the Kyrgyz Republic mainly expressed his interest in the development of trade and economic cooperation with China and implementation of joint projects in areas such as: hydropower; transportation and infrastructure; telecommunications; exploration and development of mineral, oil and gas deposits; development of light and food industries; agriculture; and tourism.

In contrast to the words of the President Kurmanbek Bakiev, the President of China Hu Jintao, formally agreeing with the proposals of his Kyrgyz colleague however, highlighted the cooperation in the sphere of security as a priority in bilateral Kyrgyz-Chinese relations. The head of China stressed that his country fully supports Kyrgyzstan in its efforts to combat the "three evils" - terrorism, separatism and extremism - as well as in its desire to contribute to regional security. As the projects, prioritized by Kyrgyzstan - the construction of the railway China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan and export of electricity from Kyrgyzstan to China - the parties again were unable to reach a common decision and once again sent the projects for further study by Governmental experts from both countries.

In 2008 the Kyrgyz-Chinese relations continued to develop gradually.

On May 20 the President of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiev received a parliamentary delegation of China led by the deputy chairman of the Standing Committee of National People's Congress, Mr. Han Tside. During the meeting with the Chinese guest Kurmanbek Bakiev expressed his condolences to the Chinese side on the devastating earthquake in China's Sichuan Province, and said that Kyrgyzstan had sent 120 tons of humanitarian cargo. The head of the parliamentary delegation of China expressed his gratitude to the Kyrgyz side for their moral and humanitarian assistance to China after the earthquake. Regarding the development of cooperation in the field of transport communications, Mr. Han Tside proposed to give priority to the rehabilitation of the road China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan. As for the railroad on the same route, he proposed to focus on conducting a thorough and comprehensive feasibility study to have a well-developed framework for the implementation of the project. Aiming for the realization of these agreements, the second meeting of the Kyrgyz-Chinese expert group on the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway line, which had been postponed for many years, was held in Bishkek on June 25-29, 2008. As a result of the negotiations, on a proposal from the Kyrgyz side, the parties decided that it was necessary to sign an Intergovernmental agreement, as well as to open a representative office of the Ministry of Railways of China in Bishkek and a representative office of the National Company "Kyrgyz Temir Jolu" (Kyrgyz Railways) in Beijing.

The Kyrgyz side proposed to hold the next meeting with the expert representatives and extended the  invitation to additional relevant officials to discuss the Intergovernmental Agreement in Beijing in the second half of 2008. As part of the 10-year program of trade and economic cooperation, the parties are currently working on the implementation of a whole package of economic projects, including the projects: to build a cement plant in Kyzyl-Kiya and a fertilizer factory in the town of Tash-Kumyr; to create free trade areas near the passport control points of "Irkeshtam" and "Torugart"; to establish a Center of Agricultural Machinery in Kyrgyzstan; as well as a project of resumption of productive activities of the Kyrgyz-Chinese paper plant (KCPP). Total estimated investment in these projects amounts to several hundred million US dollars. The projects are at various stages of development; some of them are already being implemented, while the others are being discussed. Political summits also continued in 2008. In August 2008, the Presidents of the two countries held two meetings. On August 8, when the President Kurmanbek Bakiev participated in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing, and on 28 August during the SCO summit in Dushanbe. During these meetings, the heads of the two countries discussed the development of bilateral political, trade and economic cooperation, as well as the issues of regional security and stability in Central Asia.

In conclusion, it should be noted that after a brief pause in bilateral relations, which was caused by the rapid and unexpected change of power in Kyrgyzstan after the events of 24 March 2005, the cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and China has been gradually restored and returned to a familiar format. According to the estimates of higher officials, today, the bilateral relations between China and Kyrgyzstan are riendly, and there are no serious political problems that could hinder their further development.

Erlan Abdyldaev, an IPP expert, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary