APRIL 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – In contrast to the cool reception he received when he visited the European Union in Brussels in January, China laid on smiles and a guard of honour for Uzbek President Islam Karimov’s state visit on April 19/20.

Mr Karimov was in Beijing to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao and to sign deals worth billions of dollars including an agreement to double the amount of gas Uzbekistan sells to China. The Uzbek state news website uza.uz said the deals were worth $5b and that Chinese banks had also agreed to lend $1.5b to 4 Uzbek banks for joint-ventures.

The numbers underscore just how much power and impact China can buy in Central Asia. Mr Hu hosted a similar visit to Beijing by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in February.

Over the last few years China has steadily bought up assets across the region, subverting the influence of both Russia and the West.

For the Central Asia states, China allure is not just its wealth, its proximity and its hunger for oil and gas. For now, at least, China is also less troublesome to deal with.

Former colonial power Russia has quarrelled with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan over the price of gas and the West has previously condemned human rights abuses, such as the shooting in 2005 of around 500 people at a protest in eastern Uzbekistan. China, instead, talks of jointly defeating terrorism, is welcoming and lays on the charm.