On 2 December 2024, I was hosted by Bruce Pannier on the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty podcast Majlis with amazing researchers Dr Irna Hofman, University of Oxford and Kasiet Ysmanova, Director of Central Asia Barometer.
Link: https://about.rferl.org/majlis-podcast/.
This the description of the episode: “China’s presence in Central Asia has been growing for 30 years. China is now a leading trade and security partner, foreign investor, and source of everyday goods available in markets and bazaars across Central Asia. The Central Asia Barometer recently released the results of a survey conducted over the course of several years that analyzes the opinions of Central Asian citizens toward various spheres of interaction with China, including the presence of Chinese workers in Central Asia. The results are surprisingly positive. Joining host Bruce Pannier are Kasiet Ysmanova, director of the Central Asia Barometer and a survey research practitioner based in Bishkek; Frank Maracchione, a postdoctoral research associate at the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Kent, working on Sinophobia in the Global South; and Irna Hofman, a rural sociologist specializing in social and agrarian change in Central Asia who has followed China’s presence in rural Tajikistan ethnographically for some 15 years.”
The report was co-authored with Dr Jessica Neafie, Dr Rashid Gabdulhakov, Islam Supyaldiyarov and Khiradmand Sheraliev.
Frank Maracchione 