Pipelines and Power Lines: China, Infrastructure and the Geopolitical (Re)construction of Central Asia

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the role of pipelines and power lines in the (re)construction of regional energy order in Central Asia. By structuring and governing social relations across space, infrastructures are integral to region building. In Central Asia, despite the post-Soviet transition, Soviet infrastructures have perpetuated Russian control over regional energy exports, hampered Central Asian states’ development and caused regional tension. China’s construction of pipelines and power lines represented a renegotiation of spatial, economic and political relations in the region. By connecting China with Central Asian states, the pipelines secured an alternative source of energy supply for Beijing, strengthened regional states’ independence from Russian influence, and embedded them in new structures of interdependent relations with the rising power. Meanwhile, by connecting local facilities and supplying energy to less developed areas, the Chinese-built pipelines and power lines enhanced Central Asian states’ capacity, promoted integration of national territories, and reduced region tension over water and energy supply. Notwithstanding these changes, Chinese-built pipelines and power lines did not overthrow the existing regional order. Rather than replacing Soviet systems, they were additions that connected with and remained embedded in the existing infrastructures.