Recent developments have sparked a contentious debate among Chinese experts regarding the death of the long-discussed Power of Siberia 2 job.
Dauren Abayev, Kazakhstan’s envoy to Russia, told Russia’s TASS news agency in an interview on May 4 that Kazakhstan plans to transit about 35 billion cubic meters ( bcm ) of Russian gas to China annually.  ,
He added that negotiations have already broken out regarding the project’s strategy and Kazakhstan’s plans to buy Russian gas domestically.  ,
Citing Abayevt, Reuters on the same day published an article with a headline” Russia plans to pipe 35 bcm of gas to China via Kazakhstan, TASS reports” . ,
Chinese state media, including the International Times on Monday and China News Service on Tuesday, translated and reprinted the Reuters history.  ,
Chinese scientists and commentators have differing opinions on whether the Kazakhstan-transit plan’s news has any impact on the Power of Siberia 2, which will go through Mongolia and whose Beijing and Moscow have engaged in tough negotiations since 2021.  ,
On May 15 and 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to examine the Second Energy of Siberia in Beijing.
In an interview with BNE Television, a pro-Beijing Chinese TV channel in New Zealand, Alex Tsai, a former Taiwanese senator and PhD owner, said that Putin may have already abandoned his attempt to entice Mongolia with the Power of Siberia 2.  ,  ,
” Putin is annoyed that Mongolia wants to join the United States’s Indo- Pacific strategy”, Tsai said. He has n’t yet made a fuss about it because he’s too preoccupied with the Ukrainian conflict.
Tsai said that Moscow wants to convey the message that it does n’t need Mongolia to send gas to China by highlighting its Kazakhstan-transit plan.  ,
Play unusual rocks cards?
Mongolia has asked to apply China’s interface to import rare earth to the US, but how dare they do that? In an essay, a military journalist from Beijing who uses the pen name Huashan Qiongjian appears. How does China accept that Mongolia will go through the Power of Siberia 2?
He says that, as Russia today also has its own issues about the Mongolia way, it’s great to have the Kazakhstan way as an alternative.  ,
That blogger claims that the US’s plan to halt Russian gas exports does fail, and that Western nations will have to work with China and Russia to supply energy.  ,
A warning to Mongolia
In a report released on Thursday, Fudan University’s director of the Center for Korean Studies, Zheng Jiyong, states that the idea of building a network through Kazakhstan could support Moscow accomplish three aims at once.  ,
” Firstly, it can improve its energy agreement with China as the current Power of Siberia job can only provide China with 22 bcm of oil, about 5 % of China’s total annual use of 400 bcm, “he writes”. Second, it can aid in preventing Kazakhstan from separating from Russia and leaning toward different countries.
He claims that this became more significant as a result of a report last week from the Kyiv Post claiming that the US had purchased 81 fight aircraft from Kazakhstan from the Soviet Union. The auctioned planes may just leave the country using scrap metal, according to Kazakhstan, which issued a partial rejection.  ,
Furthermore, Zheng points out that Mongolia is not a necessary ally for Russian-China’s energy trade, according to the suggestion. Mongolia will only harm itself if it tries to collaborate with Russia and China while also choosing to slave the West.
He continues,” Mongolia’s intentions to get closer to the West are clear, despite Mongolia’s earlier plans to host a US defense center and to deliver exceptional earth to the US have not yet succeeded.”  ,
Qingqing, a journalist from Henan-based Qingqing, claims in an article that Mongolia has just agreed to conduct extensive joint military exercises with the People’s Liberation Army to demonstrate its willingness to cooperate with China and avoid the US.  ,
He claims that the most recent training will provide a solid foundation for the resumption of the Power of Siberia 2 agreement and the growth of China-Mongoli-Russia economic and security ties.
Other critics have argued that Gazprom, a state-owned company in Russia, wants to end the Power of Siberia 2 agreement as soon as possible, which is stronger than the Kazakhstan-transit strategy.
On May 3,  , Gazprom , said it recorded a net loss of 629 billion rubles ( US$ 6.9 billion ) in 2023, its first annual loss in more than 20 years, as sales to Europe dropped amid western sanctions. In May 2023, Kazakhstan simply reached a tentative agreement with Russia regarding its proposed transport strategy.
Russian internet Sputnik News learned on April 16 that Russia and China will end their Power of Siberia 2 agreement once both parties reach an agreement on fuel prices.
Read: Power of Siberia 2 stuck on oil price, tree problems
Following Jeff Pao on Twitter at , @jeffpao3