中国试图向中亚展示自己是带来财富和发展的盟友，但位于新疆以西的5个前苏联国家对北京仍高度依赖，除了政治忠诚和对穆斯林遭受侵犯的沉默以外几乎不做交换。4月13日，哈萨克斯坦法庭对11名抗议者判处五年监禁，并对另外8人作出非监禁处罚，因为他们举行了当局视为反华的和平示威。
示威者在11月于中哈边境附近举行抗议，要求释放阿利姆努尔·图尔干拜（Alimnur Turganbay），一名在新疆被拘押的中国出生哈萨克公民，而他的妻子古尔达里亚·谢里扎特因参加示威被捕。示威者还谴责新疆的再教育营和对宗教实践的限制，那里的哈萨克人是仅次于维吾尔人的第二大穆斯林群体；尽管他们声称行动是针对习近平及其政府的政治抗议，法院仍认定他们煽动针对中国人的种族仇恨。
示威者高呼“打倒中国” “打倒共产党” 和“打倒习近平”，并焚烧中国国旗和习近平画像，于是中国要求哈萨克斯坦对在新疆记录虐待行为的哈萨克组织 Nagyz Atajurt 的参与者采取行动。该组织领袖塞里赫詹·比拉什在2019年因同类指控被拘留，通过认罪协商避免了监禁后流亡，而联合领导人贝克扎特·马克苏特坎因这次事件被监禁；审判揭示了中国作为中亚最大贸易伙伴、投资者和债权人的影响力，以及哈萨克斯坦总统卡西姆-焦马特·托卡耶夫愿意与北京叙事保持一致的态度。
China presents itself to Central Asia as a partner bringing wealth and development, but the five former Soviet states west of Xinjiang remain highly dependent on Beijing while giving little in return besides political loyalty and muted criticism of abuses against Muslims. On April 13, a Kazakh court sentenced 11 protesters to five years in prison and gave non-custodial penalties to another eight, after they had staged a demonstration that authorities treated as anti-China.
The November protest near the Sino-Kazakh border demanded release of Alimnur Turganbay, a Chinese-born Kazakh detained in Xinjiang, while his wife Guldariya Sherizat was arrested for joining it. Protesters also denounced Xinjiang re-education camps and religious restrictions, where Kazakhs are the second-largest Muslim group after Uyghurs, and the court held them guilty of inciting racial strife despite their claim that the action was political protest aimed at Xi Jinping and his government.
The demonstrators shouted “Down with China,” “Down with the Communist Party,” and “Down with Xi Jinping,” and burned Chinese flags and Xi’s portrait, prompting China to urge Kazakhstan to act against Nagyz Atajurt, a Kazakh group documenting abuses in Xinjiang. Its 2019 leader Serikzhan Bilash was detained on similar charges, avoided prison through a plea bargain before fleeing, while co-leader Bekzat Maksutkan was jailed over this case; the trial highlighted China’s leverage as Central Asia’s largest trade partner, investor, and creditor, and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s alignment with Beijing’s narrative.
Source: An anti-China protest lands Kazakhs in priso
Subtitle: Its economic power means China calls political shots, too
Dateline: 4月 23, 2026 03:40 上午 | ALMATY