Russian political scientist on Aliyev`s visit to Beijing: The  Caucasus becoming much closer to China

ArmInfo. In a multicentric world, the market for ideas and projects extends far  beyond  just "Western values" and "Russian tradition". This is how Russian political scientist Sergei Markedonov commented on the state visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to China and the documents signed during the visit.

The political scientist noted that on April 23 in Beijing, Aliyev and  Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a "Joint Statement between  Azerbaijan and China on the Establishment of Comprehensive Strategic  Partnership", along with a total of 20 other documents in various  fields covering a wide range of fields.  Markedonov is confident that  this is event is anything but ordinary  and there are  several  serious reasons for why it should be of interest. The expert noted  that  representatives of official Baku and political scientists close  to them are currently promoting the thesis that the Republic of  Azerbaijan is free to choose its own partners in today's conditions,  without worrying about political correctness in dialogue with the  United States, Russia, and the EU.

Markedonov believes that Baku is, in many ways, trying to become a  pattern for other post-Soviet countries tired of the geopolitical  dichotomy between Russia and the West, which is possible due to both  favorable economic resources and an advantageous political and  geographical position.The political scientist recalled that in 2023,  strategic partnership relations were established between Beijing and  Tbilisi. Since then, the registration of Chinese enterprises in  Georgia has increased by 96.6%. Just last year alone, the state  register registered 291 new Chinese companies. Moreover, according to  him, just the other day the head of the Ministry of Education of  Georgia Alexander Tsuladze presented a new concept of general  education, which involves the approval of the standard of Chinese as  a second foreign language.

 The political scientist believes that China has a set of ideas that  are interesting to both Azerbaijan and Georgia. "I will again allow  myself to quote from Xinhua: "China supports Azerbaijan in protecting  its national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, as  well as in continuing to follow the path of development that  corresponds to its national conditions: China is ready to carry out  in-depth cooperation with Azerbaijan... to decisively combat the  "three forces of evil": terrorism, extremism and separatism." Replace  the word "Azerbaijan" with "Georgia" and you will get the  geopolitical ideal of Tbilisi. Note, without any imposition of  "liberal values", with the preservation of national color, but with  an indispensable emphasis on "territorial integrity". I will not be  far from the truth if I say that both Kazakhstan and other Central  Asian countries would willingly sign up for such a project,"  Markedonov concluded.