Escaping Russia’s web: Central Asia is caught between Chinese networks and US tech curbs

In FocusEscaping Russia’s web: Central Asia is caught between Chinese networks and US tech curbsPowers including Beijing, Washington and Moscow are competing to supply the region with the energy infrastructure needed to power AIPublished: 6:00am, 10 Nov 2026Updated: 6:02am, 10 Nov 2026Days after three Russian data centres were hit by Ukrainian drone attacks last month – paralysing taxi, delivery and payment apps across Central Asia – Tajikistan launched an internet link between its capital Dushanbe and Beijing.The optical fibre, which runs through the Pamir Mountains, offers a direct link to Hong Kong – one of the largest internet traffic exchange points in the Asia-Pacific – and marks Tajikistan’s fifth international communication access point.To the west, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have also forged an alternative route. Backed by the European Union’s Global Gateway Initiative on Digital Connectivity, the two nations inaugurated a 380km (236 miles) undersea cable across the Caspian Sea in October.