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。# ?" k: r' a! l
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A new customs compound is to open this year on the outskirts of Murghab. It will help speed the flow of Chinese goods.$ n+ E; t, \% k' ^' C+ |% S
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. n& t. X2 v& f: d7 U. \# qCentral 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.” m) z# s8 N( d& i 6 ^) {& W- g9 D' L* E* X ; a5 ^; ]& b& v4 l7 _) T& [5 ^Kyrgyz shepherds in Tajikistan packed a Chinese solar panel. Chinese goods like clothing, electronics and appliances have lately flooded Central Asia. 8 I; ~& g7 K7 M% K0 W$ @人在德国 社区" q% H3 n* Y" T3 ~. q 1 Y: v$ [0 |8 d( `
Chinese merchants have set up shops inside containers at a market in Kyrgyzstan, selling items like DVD players and stuffed animals. / W. W! T* {( q6 I. v/ {) F' k* o( I& K( y + [; u! ^9 Z7 G0 ]7 pChinese 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( W {9 d$ |: _
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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.