Laying Wires—Making Friends: Russia’s and China’s Engagement in the Telecommunication Sector and Its Effects on Regional Cooperation

Abstract

Sino-Russian combined engagement and their individual involvements in the telecommunication sector had a limited effect on promoting regional cooperation in Central Asia. However, the focused nature of Chinese engagement developed more potential for regional cooperation compared to situational activities emanating from Russia. The limited effects on regionalization can be attributed to the nature of the telecommunication sector and the differences in the levels of political leverage held by Russia and China in Central Asian countries. Telecommunication systems can enhance regional connectivity, but, compared to other networked industries, the sector possesses several attributes, which allocate to it additional roles in the regionalization process. First, telecommunication systems provide connectivity between people and organizations. However, in Central Asia, the states outside of the integration structures may be limited in communication with their geographic neighbors. Second, the communication networks are relatively cheaper to build compared to transportation and energy networks. In contrast to transportation and energy sectors which are mainly influenced by Chinese state, the mobile communication sector has been dominated by Russian private companies. However, lower costs also allow Central Asian states to maintain more control of the development of telecommunication systems and enable them to keep major powers in check. The third attribute of telecommunication networks is their ability to serve as the channel for spreading ‘soft power’. The actors, who control the means of communication and media, have the capacity to influence the type of information spread through these channels. This attribute is addressed in the separate, final, chapter of the book. The first section of this chapter addresses the broad effects of major powers’ engagement on regional connectivity. The second section assesses how the relatively lower costs of the telecommunication sector attract smaller state actors and non-state actors and evaluates the roles of the two major powers in that context.