A new 'Great Game' in Central Asia

A NEW version of the "Great Game" - a term used to describe rivalry between the former British and Russian empires for supremacy in Central Asia more than a century ago - is being played out in the region, although this time the competing powers are Japan and China, with Russia being more than simply an idle bystander.

The recent whistle-stop tour by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, together with an entourage of bankers, trading company executives and others, to most of the Central Asian republics is widely viewed as an attempt to counter Chinese President Xi Jinping's visionary "Silk Road" diplomacy in the region.

China's launch of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which Japan, along with the US, has so far declined to join, is also being seen as an important gaming chip in the new Great Game, since it will help institutionalise Beijing's role in Central Asia and link the sub-region with Europe and the Middle East.