The Ukraine crisis coincided with a Russian crackdown on independent online media. New laws since then have brought new restrictions, and the Internet adviser to President Vladimir Putin tells Current Time that China is the model for further online regulation. This story is part of a documentary series, InterNYET, by Current Time that explores the history of the Russian web.
China is one of the main creditors for all of Central Asia’s countries. How much do these countries owe to China and are they completely equal partners? Current Time Asia’s Zhazgul Egemberdiyeva explains.
Despite recurring protests in Kyrgyzstan against the alleged detention of ethnic Kyrgyz in Chiina's reeducation camps, Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jerenbekov underlined at a December 19, 2018 press conference that Bishkek “should respond very gingerly, delicately” to the issue.
Beyshekan Kamza, a 38-year-old resident of the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, cannot stop thinking about China. A relative there told her that her father and sister have been incarcerated in a reeducation facility in the country’s northern region of Xinjiang -- part of a wave of recent detentions of Muslim ethnic minorities in the region. But without government help, she, like so many others, has no way of knowing her family's whereabouts for sure.
As Vladimir Putin heads to Beijing, it is becoming clear that China isn't the savior Russia had been hoping for.
