@inbook{bc3e197a2fb74ec0afd6f0705287f672,
title = "Anti-Chinese Sentiment, the BRI, and COVID-19: Kazakhstani Perceptions of China in Central Asia",
abstract = "China{\textquoteright}s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) brought commodity-rich Kazakhstan many new economic opportunities and investment projects over the last 7 years, however, the global pandemic may be threatening Kazakhstan{\textquoteright}s development and its relationship with China. COVID-19 not only reduced Kazakh oil exports to China and put many of the infrastructure projects and investment opportunities from China on hold but exacerbated tensions between the citizens of Kazakhstan and the Chinese. Surveys in 2014 and 2016 found generally positive feelings about the rise of China amongst future elites, but the respondents seemed to have a limited understanding of China{\textquoteright}s presence in Kazakhstan. During the pandemic, China has been at the forefront of international news as the source of the pandemic and a source for foreign contagion. This study replicates these earlier studies, with new questions related to COVID-19, to find out if perceptions of China are changing in Kazakhstan and the effect that COVID-19 had on those perceptions. The survey was distributed to students around Kazakhstan at the beginning of 2021, with 186 respondents. These surveys show evidence to suggest that perceptions of China are changing, and preliminary evidence that COVID-19 has exacerbated the negative perceptions of China in Central Asia.",
author = "Jessica Neafie",
year = "2022",
doi = "10.1007/978-981-16-7586-7_5",
language = "English",
isbn = "978-981-16-7585-0",
series = "The Steppe and Beyond: Studies on Central Asia",
publisher = "Palgrave Macmillan",
pages = "75--95",
editor = "Jean-Fran{\c c}ois Caron and H{\'e}l{\`e}ne Thibault",
booktitle = "Central Asia and the Covid-19 Pandemic",
}