Nearly five hundred people in Kazakhstan held a rally in Almaty to protest against a law on land privatization that will lead to a monopoly of more than 80% of the country’s land by a very small number of people and the “debt trap” that China’s “Belt and Road” may bring. The march was rarely approved by the government.
The Democratic Party of Kazakhstan, which is in the process of formation, held a rally in Almaty, the country’s largest city, and in the capital, Nursultan, at noon on Saturday. The mass demonstration had two demands: first, to protest against the provisions of the Land Law Amendment and the Land Reform Commission’s draft land amendment to monopolize land in Kazakhstan, and second, to oppose Chinese investment projects in Kazakhstan in order to prevent the country from falling into the investment trap.
The actions of the forming Kazakh Democratic Party (HDP), which has received unanimous support from all other opposition parties and non-governmental organizations in Kazakhstan, can be described as unprecedented, Kazakh businessman Rais Khan told Radio Free Asia this Monday (26).
“On April 24, there was a massive protest in Almaty against the privatization of land, as well as against the Communist Party’s Belt and Road investment trap, and the landing of 55 investment projects in Kazakhstan for the transfer of production capacity between China and Kazakhstan. Four or five hundred people participated, and the police were present to maintain order”.
In the capital city of Nursultan, dozens of veterans also protested in front of the main meeting of the city’s Land Reform Commission, demanding an end to the monopolistic land privatization policy.
Fears that the draft land amendment allows foreign companies to encroach on local resources
This protest stems from the amendments to the Land Law of Kazakhstan and the draft land amendments of the Land Reform Commission, which, according to the proposal of the President of Kazakhstan, were adopted to prohibit the sale and leasing of agricultural land in Kazakhstan to foreigners, wholly foreign-owned enterprises, enterprises with foreign participation, research institutions with foreign participation, but in the proposal there is a clause that allows leasing But in the proposal there is a clause that allows leasing forestry land in the desert Gobi development to foreigners for 25 years, which provoked protests.”
China, the world’s largest consumer of resources, has been looking outward for resources for more than a decade, expanding its sovereignty in the South China Sea to protect this lifeline for energy transportation, while also moving to the western continent to find more resources and develop land.
Kazakhstan has 4 billion tons of proven oil reserves, ranking 1st in Central Asia and 15th in the world, and 39 trillion cubic meters of proven natural gas reserves, second only to Turkmenistan in Central Asia. In addition to fossil fuels, Kazakhstan also has significant mineral resources, with one quarter of the world’s uranium reserves used for nuclear energy.
A protester gives a speech at the scene. (Courtesy of The Kazakh / By Joe Long)
Approval of demonstrations to increase bargaining chips with China
Video and pictures from the scene show numerous Kazakhs gathering in the government-sanctioned city square, pulling up banners and demanding changes to the Land Law Amendment. One participant said that the government’s rare approval of the demonstration was likely an attempt to gain leverage in negotiations with Chinese investors.
Kazakhs are protesting against China’s “One Belt, One Road” investment project. Chinese authorities have illegally arrested 500,000 to 700,000 Kazakhs in Xinjiang and imprisoned them in concentration camps, which has sparked outrage against the Chinese Communist Party in Kazakhstan,” Selkjian, founder of the Kazakh human rights organization Atajulte Volunteers, told the station. While the official media of China and Kazakhstan vigorously promote the so-called Sino-Kazakh friendship and the importance of SCO, the Kazakh people no longer believe such lies.”
Communist Atrocities in Xinjiang Provoke Wave of Anti-Chinese in Central Asia
Speaking to the station, Selkjian, who has long been concerned about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, said that more than 500,000 Kazakhs who have migrated from Xinjiang to Kazakhstan since the country’s independence have been unable to contact their families in Xinjiang.
“Kazakhs have been unable to contact their relatives in Xinjiang from 2017 until now. Kazakhs living in China and Kazakhstan have lost contact with each other for four to five years and do not know whether each other is dead or alive. The Communist Party’s atrocities have caused a wave of opposition to China in Kazakhstan and throughout Central Asia, and the Kazakhs hate it with a passion.
The “Belt and Road” project will be difficult to implement in Kazakhstan if China does not allow the Kazakhs in its territory to be free and to leave the country, Syrkyan asserted.
It is reported that China and Kazakhstan have invested in 55 large-scale projects with a total value of $27.3 billion, of which more than a dozen have been completed and eight are frozen and cancelled.
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