Fear of the dragon.

The article examines relations between China and its Central Asian neighbours. The success of Central Asia's leaders in getting closer to China is viewed with considerable suspicion by their own people. Although there is no concrete reason to suspect China of bad intentions towards Central Asia since the region broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991, ancient fears of Chinese expansionism still persist. The fears are strengthened by the growing number of Chinese in Central Asia. The worries about what China might one day do are partly based on Soviet-era propaganda. Both Kazakhstan and Kirgizstan are now nervously watching the flood of ethnic Chinese moving to Xinjiang, and the economic boom in that part of China.