虽然中国正在成为东亚和东南亚地区的关注焦点，在那里的经济存在和外交影响力与日俱增，但它也在静悄悄地增加着自己在中亚地区的存在感，而这一地区曾经主要是俄罗斯的地盘。中国将军刘亚洲说，中亚是上天给予当代中国的最厚一片蛋糕。 * `$ i& a9 Z2 Z4 `7 R" Q7 u+ f4 k- a. R. ]8 e ( N1 G( w/ I* }! M1 n2 Z5 S
A new customs compound is to open this year on the outskirts of Murghab. It will help speed the flow of Chinese goods. 4 @9 O( b0 K9 }6 F& Q4 X, X# p) b% y ?# C
) O1 v5 \- L( F L2 nCentral Asia, says Gen. Liu Yazhou of the People’s Liberation Army, is “the thickest piece of cake given to the modern Chinese by the heavens.” 3 v) V/ D) ]0 o# f& b5 E( P, o $ [0 Z( l, g8 S" Q& j8 z( k e [/ n4 J1 ^5 ]5 g3 }Kyrgyz shepherds in Tajikistan packed a Chinese solar panel. Chinese goods like clothing, electronics and appliances have lately flooded Central Asia. ; K4 J; H( X* Z4 [+ x" W8 e K" t/ y/ S 2 p' {- b. P; q) h9 O! N. e2 b. IChinese merchants have set up shops inside containers at a market in Kyrgyzstan, selling items like DVD players and stuffed animals. # ]3 l3 d4 ^8 ` ?+ o/ a9 r! E4 d# u. W, g* m: O 3 v$ u [0 h7 L+ f$ DChinese workers building a road on the Kyrgyz side of a key pass between China and Kyrgyzstan, which until independence in 1991 was part of the Soviet Union. : e/ D+ _( z4 l7 r5 _% ^3 m
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Students learning Mandarin at a Confucius Institute in Kazakhstan. China has opened several of the institutes to teach Mandarin in cities throughout Central Asia.
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