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It is an area of Azerbaijan, but has been under the control of Armenian minority forces backed by the Armenian government since the end of the Armenian-Azerbaijani war in 1994.
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Belt and Road with Armenia and Azerbaijan
According to the commentary of the expert Danil Bochkov of the Russian research organization Council for International Affairs (based in Moscow) published in the newspaper South China morning post On October 3, China began to actively participate in the problems of the South Caucasus since 2015, as the region is considered a bridge between the Middle East, China, Russia and Europe under the Belt and Con. Street initiative. China thus signed numerous agreements with Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Consequently, in 2016, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (based in Beijing) provided Azerbaijan with a loan of $ 600 million to support a project to build a gas pipeline to Turkey. By 2019, China and Azerbaijan signed agreements totaling $ 800 million, promoting bilateral cooperation in the non-oil sector.
The increased trade has contributed to closer relations between China and Azerbaijan. In 2018, bilateral trade reached $ 1.3 billion, marking Azerbaijan as China’s largest trading partner in the South Caucasus.
China is interested in the Baku – Tbilisi – Kars railway, which connects Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, developed in the Trans-Caspian international transit railway, starting from Southeast Asia and China crossing Kazakhstan, Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia to European countries. This route is part of the Belt and Road initiative.
The Baku – Tbilisi – Kars railway is considered the shortest route for transporting goods from China to Turkey and reduces transit times to Western Europe from more than a month to 15 days. In addition, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are developing the Eurasian telecommunications belt, which is believed to be useful for countries participating in the Belt and Road initiative.
If Azerbaijan actively participates in China-related infrastructure connectivity projects, then Armenia also shows openness to China. In 2015, Armenia signed an agreement with China to promote cooperation in the construction of the Economic Belt of the Silk Road, within the framework of the Belt and Road initiative.
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Armenia is also believed to be attractive to China because Armenia could become a potential regional transportation base to protect Chinese interests in the Middle East.
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Dilemma
With good relations with both Azerbaijan and Armenia, China has remained neutral in the current conflict between the two states in the South Caucasus, but still faces a dilemma, he said. Bochkov.
Azerbaijani experts and the media often argue that China supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, opposes separatism in Nagorno-Karabakh to avoid double standards in relations with Taiwan.
However, with China tightening ties with Armenia, the border conflict requires China to adopt more cautious diplomacy. If in the past China always insisted on supporting the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, today it can only call for dialogue and restraint.
Whatever the outcome of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, it is clear that China will not seek a mediating role in the context that neither Beijing has any political influence over Azerbaijan, nor does Armenia want to choose which side, according to expert Bochkov.
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