On November 21, 2023, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov held the first Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue between China and Uzbekistan in Beijing. The two sides had an all-round and in-depth communication on implementing the important common understandings reached by the two heads of state and strengthening the alignment of development strategies, reached extensive common understandings, and jointly announced the establishment of the mechanism of Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue between the two countries.

Wang Yi said that China and Uzbekistan are friendly neighbors with a shared future. No matter how the international situation changes, China-Uzbekistan relations have always maintained sound and steady development and been full of vitality. Since last year, President Xi Jinping and President Shavkat Mirziyoyev have successfully paid visits to each other’s country. On the sidelines of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the two heads of state held another meeting, agreeing to advance the building of a China-Uzbekistan community with a shared future, and painting a blueprint for the development of bilateral relations. The prime ministers of the two countries also had a productive meeting this year. The close high-level interaction shows the high level and uniqueness of China-Uzbekistan relations, and also demonstrates the distinct features of relations between the two countries featuring mutual respect, good-neighborly friendship, solidarity in trying times, and mutual benefit. China is ready to work with Uzbekistan to make good use of the new platform of China-Uzbekistan Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue, advance all-round mutually beneficial cooperation and speed up the building of a China-Uzbekistan community with a shared future. To that end, Wang Yi made a four-point proposal.

First, the two countries need to consolidate the belief of solidarity and mutual trust. The two sides need to continue to support each other at crucial moments, and safeguard the political foundation of relations between the two countries and international fairness and justice. The two sides need to advocate and act upon true multilateralism, and make the global governance system more just and equitable.

Second, the two countries need to foster the engine for common development. The two sides need to take high-quality Belt and Road cooperation ushering into a new stage of high-quality development as an opportunity to align the eight major steps to support the joint pursuit of Belt and Road cooperation in a comprehensive way, and speed up common development and prosperity. The two sides need to implement well the medium- to long-term plan for China-Uzbekistan cooperation in economy, trade and investment, and deepen exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade and investment, finance, connectivity, agriculture, energy, and green development, among other fields.

Third, the two countries need to cultivate public opinion for everlasting friendship. The two sides need to host the Culture Day activities in each other’s country, and expand cooperation in the Luban Workshop, education, poverty alleviation, tourism, localities, and construction of the innovative economic zone, among others. China supports Uzbekistan in holding the 2025 Asian Youth Games, and supports the hosting of the first China-Uzbekistan Forum on Local Cooperation.

Fourth, the two countries need to safeguard peace and stability. The two sides need to further strengthen cooperation in counter-terrorism, counternarcotics, cracking down on transnational organized crimes, and cyber- and bio-security. China opposes interference by any forces in Central Asian countries’ internal affairs under any pretexts.

Bakhtiyor Saidov said that President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and President Xi Jinping had successful meetings and maintained close communication, steering the course of Uzbekistan-China relations and opening a new chapter in bilateral cooperation. Uzbekistan values the solid mutual trust between the two heads of state and good neighborliness and friendliness between Uzbekistan and China, supports a series of global initiatives put forth by President Xi Jinping, and will stay committed to the one-China principle, firmly support each other, and deepen strategic mutual trust. Uzbekistan congratulated China on the success of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation not long ago, which has provided an important platform for promoting the common development and prosperity of all countries. Mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation between Uzbekistan and China is of crucial importance for Uzbekistan to accelerate diversified development. Uzbekistan fully agrees with China’s proposal, and looks forward to deepening all-round cooperation between the two countries in a comprehensive way, so as to take the Uzbekistan-China comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.

The two sides said that they will further strengthen coordination within such multilateral frameworks as the United Nations, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, promote the building of the China-Central Asia mechanism, and safeguard regional peace, development, security and stability.

The two sides also had an exchange of views on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, among others. Wang Yi expounded on China’s principled position, and introduced the recent visit to China by a delegation of Arab-Islamic foreign ministers. Bakhtiyor Saidov highly appreciated China’s efforts to uphold justice, and agreed that the two-state solution must be adhered to so as to jointly promote the just settlement of the Palestinian question.

Source: In China Embassy

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Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Roman Vassilenko participated in the first ministerial meeting of the Central Asian and G7 countries that took place in an online format. Prospects for cooperation in the fields of regional security, economy, transport, energy and investment, combating global warming and protecting the environment, water management, as well as tourism were discussed at the meeting. In his remarks, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan stressed the importance of expanding trade ties, increasing the involvement of the G7 economies in the region, as well as developing the potential of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route in connecting key industrial centers of Europe and Asia.

Roman Vassilenko further noted that Kazakhstan is committed to joint measures to counter modern global and regional challenges, in particular, solving the emergency in the field of climate, food crisis, and water issues as well as saving the Aral Sea. Kazakhstan’s plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 have also been outlined. In addition, the diplomat urged his interlocutors to support the Kazakh initiatives to establish a UN Regional Center for SDGs for Central Asia and Afghanistan in Almaty and to participate in the Regional Climate Summit under the UN auspices in Kazakhstan in 2026. Representatives of the Central Asian countries in their interventions also focused on the importance of increasing cooperation in priority areas for the development of our region. The readiness to develop further dialogue in this format was expressed.

In turn, G7 foreign ministers and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell confirmed their commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Central Asian states in accordance with the UN Charter. They noted that active cooperation between individual G7 members with the Central Asian states is already underway through bilateral and multilateral channels. At the same time, they called for further expansion and deepening of cooperation in the fields of security, infrastructure development, trade and economy.

In particular, mutual interest in improving connectivity was noted, including through the development of regional projects within the framework of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), a major G7 initiative envisaging the attraction of 600 billion US dollars for infrastructure projects around the world until 2027. The delegates also had a substantive exchange of views on the impact of geopolitical turbulence on the countries of Central Asia, including the challenges associated with global instability and disruption of supply chains, as well as ways to overcome them.

Source: EU Reporter

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An exciting Grand Slam final U73kg awaited spectators in the Jiu-Jitsu Arena, Zayed Sport City, between Akil Gjakova (KOS) and Shakhram Ahadov (UZB). Perhaps not quite at the pace we were waiting for, each looking to pressure on the grip. At two and a half minutes into the contest Gjakova came close to scoring, the first real attempt of the fight, but in the same moment the coach had to be asked to leave. This is always a last respite b it the rules on coaching are clear and it is important that everyone accepts the rules, to be fair to all. It was the first gold medal for a male judoka this year at a Grand Slam at foreign ground.

In the next exchange Ahadov scored waza-ari, perhaps against the run of play and then controlled the gripping enough to nullify the Kosovan’s efforts. The gold was going to Uzbekistan and a grand slam silver to Kosovo.

The number one seed of the day, Uzbekistan’s Nomanov, came in from his position at 11th on the World Ranking List. He’s not a world or Olympic medallist but he is gradually collecting medals from the World Judo Tour and this year has a gold from Portugal and a silver from the Georgian capital. He placed in the top 8 in Doha too and it appears that facing him is becoming evermore risky as he develops.

However, in Abu Dhabi he exited after a second round defeat at the hands of Cano Garcia (ESP) who then also lost but to junior double world medallist Yonezuka (USA) who is going from strength to strength. His forte has always been his ne-waza but in recent months his throwing ability has exploded and now he can be relied upon in tachi-waza too. Yonezuka lost his quarter-final to up-and-coming Kosovan Akil Gjakova but in the repechage he threw for ippon with a sweet ashi-waza that his German opponent had no chance to avoid. In Abu Dhabi Yonezuka will compete in his first WJT final block, a natural progression for this hard working youngster. Paris 2024 seems totally within his reach.

It was Daniyar Shamshayev (KAZ) who came through pool B, the 5th seed. By the time he reached the quarter-final, the top seed of the pool had already been eliminated, leaving him with a clear path to the semi-final where he found Gjakova, on excellent form. He was European champion two years ago but since then has amassed 7th place finishes consistently. In Abu Dhabi his form seemed restored; strong, robust, committed judo throughout the day.

On the bottom half of the draw Makhmadbekov lived up to expectation all the way to the quarter-final. There he was knocked out by Mammadaliyev (AZE) after a thrilling golden score contest that was all-action from beginning to end. The Azeri struggled to recover though and lost the semi-final to Ahadov (UZB). Makhmadbekov (AIN) and Mammadaliyev had the most intense, incredible quarter-final. They attacked and counter-attacked from every position. It was a perfect display of intention, with ippon as their goal. It went into golden score and the energy exerted even in extra time was impressive, to say the least. It almost doesn’t matter who won because with attitude as the focus and judo skill, they both won. Both men left the tatami exhausted from a great fight. One went on to win his next contest, almost by luck as he still hadn’t found his full recovery. The winner went on to lose his semi-final against the very physical Ahadov (UZB), no surprise; he really gave all he had.

The first bronze medal contest was fought between Yonezuka (USA) and Mammadaliyev and actually the American put in a great effort, but had to accept two penalties, taking them into golden score, just to add some pressure. Neither competitor had won a grand slam medal before and so there was everything to play for. Yonezuka came close on the ground but his strategy is now widely known and Mammadaliyev didn’t allow it. He then threw for a waza-ari and raised his arms in satisfaction.

The second bronze medal was fought over Makhmadbekov (AIN) and Shamshayev (KAZ) and the former attempted a huge uchi-mata before even ten seconds had passed. It didn’t score but it set the tone! The energy stayed high but unexpectedly the win came in ne-waza. He took the opportunity to capitalise on split-second positional mistake and held Shamshayev for ippon.

Source: Judo Inside

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