http://www.sectsco.org/EN/show.asp?id=168 Although the Chinese are talking about this project as one of "mutual cooperation," I have always been skeptical of economic models that are dependent upon the exploitation of resources, so I think that a natural gas pipeline pumping fuel from Turkmenistan into an energy-starved China is a mixed blessing at best. I think that the pipeline will only promote the continuation of archaic, export-based economic models. When Turkmenistan's natural gas reserves have dried-up, I doubt their industrial infrastructure will be sufficient to sustain a decent standard of living. Unless the Chinese government and the SCO at large intend to contribute to Turkmenistan's long-term success, this kind of project should be looked upon with some level of suspicion. It's not that exporting natural gas and other resources is inherently harmful to a country, but Turkmenistan's education system and technological competitiveness are eroding, not getting any better. Their government has done little to catalyze growth in the country's infrastructure, and the Central Asian country will not see an improvement in its situation if the money flowing in from these exports continues to be squandered by the elite. And the problem is not one of exports being inherently bad for a country. Kazakhstan also suffers from its wealth being pooled in a few wealthy regions, but Kazakhstan's government has also made some fairly ambitious efforts to make itself more technologically competitive. http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11808 While Turkmenistan's education system has been in constant decline, Kazakhstan has been making efforts to improve the prospects of their school students. For example, one recent accomplishment by Kazakhstan has been their participation in creating the world's first internationally chartered university. http://www.ucentralasia.org/ So it is not that there is some bad voodoo around Central Asia. The nations in this unique part of the world can not only succeed, but they can distinguish themselves in the world in unique ways. I have simply not seen any evidence that the either the Chinese government or the SCO have any intentions of using their economic relationship with Turkmenistan as leverage to improve the Central Asian republic's standard of living. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jmu2v_sZGeo5HFDfsXf42YUuFf-w Recently, opposition parties have become permissible in Turkmenistan. This does symbolize a shift in attitudes among the country's leadership. However, this is still the country that was so technophobic that they banned satellite dishes, in one area, for being "ugly." http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20071204/110427.shtml I understand that this was not intended as an assault against freedom of speech, like some media sources tried to portray it, but it gives the country a very bad image. Making this thread another lame excuse to bash on the Americans is strictly forbidden. The last time I tried to have an enlightening discussion about the affairs of this part of the world, some fool from India began doing this. Acts of the American government are not relevant here at all unless somehow you can prove that they are relevant.
Should this thread become a naive wish list for what rich countries should do to help out poor ones? Keep in mind China's average worker is not rich by any means and its all China can do to maintain order among its people through a delicate balance of capitalism and censorship. The Chicoms who run the country want to keep their positions and care little about what you think of how they run things. Just ask the political prisoners in China who got locked up for running their mouths about the wrong topics in front of the wrong people.
How would China come to have a vested interest in Turkmenistan's infrastructure? Outside of Turkmenistan surrendering its sovereignty and becoming part of China, the Chinese actually have a vested interest in keeping Turkmenistan under-developed. Underdeveloped countries don't pose a military threat. They don't compete with your factory production on the World market. They also don't charge you what their resources are really worth, because they don't have any use for them on their own.
