China Expands Influence in Central Asia

China is striving to expand its footprint in Central Asia, hoping to take advantage of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the US Agency for International Development and the broader cuts in American foreign assistance. To date, China’s outreach in Central Asia has been largely limited to grand infrastructure projects undertaken within the framework of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). But now, China is going small, launching limited programs at the grass-roots level in cooperation with international organizations.…