“中國對你們的將來相當主要，”墻上釘著的一則通告寫道。與這則通告同樣惹人註目標，是一只玩具熊貓、中式壁掛和塑料竹子。
在一個周二的晚上，在阿拉木圖的這所說話黌舍裏，幾組門生正在心神專註地進修漢語。
33歲的畫家維多利亞•納紮爾丘克(Viktoriya Nazarchuk)說，她喜好中國書法，並由此愛好上了漢語。不外，就像哈薩克斯坦大多半學漢語的人同樣，她也親密存眷著中國日趨加強的經濟影響力。
“咱們須要熟習他們的文化、汗青和說話。”她說道，“當我程度充足高時，我還盤算教我小兒子漢語。他在今後的生存中將須要漢語。”
跟著中國在中亞的經濟影響力賡續加強，愈來愈多的中亞人斟酌進修漢語，納紮爾丘克便是個中之一。器械教導團體(East-West Education Group)開創人努爾然•拜捷米羅夫(Nurzhan Baitemirov)表現，他正在轉變本身的事情重心。這家團體曾專註於傳授哈薩克斯坦人英語，但現在開設了愈來愈多的漢語課程。納紮爾丘克學漢語的說話黌舍就附屬於該團體。
“哈薩克斯坦西部(該國重要產油區)曾是加拿大企業的地皮，但情形已產生了變更，現在那邊大可能是中國的企業。假如你想找份事情，最佳是會說漢語，”已在武漢得到碩士學位的拜捷米羅夫說。據他估量，學漢語的門生人數每個月增長5%。“家長們明確，假如他們的孩子接收了優越的漢語教導，就會有不錯的職業遠景。”他說，“他們留意到，中國在這裏有大批的投資。”
中國國度留學基金治理委員會(China Scholarship Council)數據表現，曩昔十年裏，在華留學的哈薩克斯坦國民人數增長了四倍多，到達1.2萬人。該委員會是一家贊助外洋門生在華留學的當局機構。與此同時，北京方面已在中亞五國創辦了11所孔子學院(Confucius Institute)，推行中國的說話、文化。
就連哈薩克斯坦的第一家庭也已為學漢語背書：哈薩克斯坦總統之女、該國副總理達麗加•納紮爾巴耶娃(Dariga Nazarbayeva)在2月表現，除哈薩克語、俄語和英語，哈薩克斯坦兒童還應進修漢語。“中國事咱們的同夥、商業火伴和我國經濟的最大投資者。”她說，“在不遠的未來，咱們都得懂漢語。”
並不是全部人都信任這一點。歐亞開辟銀行(Eurasian Development Bank)的民意查詢拜訪表現，唯一六分之一的哈薩克斯坦人視中國為“友愛國度”，以為俄羅斯和白俄羅斯為友愛國度的比例分離為84%和48%。另外一方面，中國在最有大概被稱為“不友愛國度”的名單裏排進了前三名。
“在統計數字看，中國事哈薩克斯坦異常主要的商業火伴。但許多哈薩克斯坦人其實不以為中國事一大投資者。他們以為中國事個大貧苦——這裏的人信任，中國試圖擴展其經濟影響力，而咱們的國度卻從中撈不到半點利益，”阿拉木圖智庫“危害評估團體”(Risk Assessment Group)賣力人、哈薩克斯坦政治學家多西姆•薩特帕耶夫(Dosym Satpayev)說。
這類概念在必定水平上是汗青釀成的：蘇聯未崩潰時，中亞人在事情、教導、文化方面憑仗莫斯科。這類紐帶在蘇聯崩潰後存留了下來，正如蘇聯時期把中國描寫成威逼的那些老生常談同樣。現實上，恐華情感多是中國絲綢之路籌劃面對的最大挑釁之一。
2010年，一項把大片地盤租給中國企業用於農業開辟的發起在哈薩克斯坦激發了"大眾,"抗議。本年，哈薩克斯坦西北部都會阿克托別(Aktobe)產生了紛擾，緣故原由是有報導稱，中國煤油自然氣團體公司(CNPC)在本地的一家子公司請求工人加入漢語測驗。
“民氣雷同”是中國正式頒布的在中亞地域的五個目的之一。但剖析人士表現，中國擴展軟氣力的盡力未能到達目的。“我以為中國做得還不敷。他們須要盡力打造一種優越的形象，”復旦大學國際題目研討院俄羅斯中亞研討中間主任趙華勝說。
不外，在阿拉木圖的這所說話黌舍，中國的形象沒有任何題目。“中國人簡略、開放、友愛，”36歲的口舌人尤利婭•阿布裏佐娃(Yulia Abritsova)說道。她第一次去中國事在客歲炎天，如今盤算回中國去讀個學位。“中國有點像蘇聯。”
【參考譯文】
“China is the key for your future,” reads a notice pinned to the wall, jostling for attention alongside a toy panda, Chinese wall hangings, and plastic bamboo.
On a Tuesday evening at this Almaty language school several small groups are engaged in learning Chinese.
Viktoriya Nazarchuk, a 33-year-old painter, says she became interested in the language through an enthusiasm for Chinese calligraphy. Like most students of Chinese in Kazakhstan, however, she also has an eye on Beijing’s growing economic clout.
“We need to get acquainted with their culture, history and language,” she says. “When my level is high enough I plan to teach my little son Chinese, too. He will need it in his future life.”
As China’s economic power in the region grows, Ms Nazarchuk is one of a growing number of central Asians looking to learn Chinese. Nurzhan Baitemirov, founder of East-West Education Group, which owns the language school where Ms Nazarchuk is studying, says his focus is shifting. The company once specialised in teaching English to Kazakhs, but it is now increasingly educating them in Chinese.
“West Kazakhstan [the country’s main oil-producing region] used to be Canadian companies, but they have shifted and it is now majority Chinese companies. It’s better if you speak Chinese if you want to get a position,” says Mr Baitemirov, who has a masters degree from Wuhan. The number of students learning Chinese is increasing by 5 per cent a month, he estimates. “Parents do understand that if their child has a good education in Chinese they have good job prospects,” he says. “They’re seeing there are a lot of Chinese investments here.”
The number of Kazakh citizens studying in China has risen more than fivefold in the past decade to 12,000, according to the China Scholarship Council, a government body that helps overseas students study in China. Beijing, meanwhile, has set up 11 Confucius Institutes to promote Chinese language and culture in the five Central Asian “stans”.
Even Kazakhstan’s first family has endorsed learning Chinese: Dariga Nazarbayeva, deputy prime minister and daughter of the country’s president, in February said that Kazakh children should learn Chinese in addition to Kazakh, Russian and English. “China is our friend, our trading partner and the biggest investor in the economy of our country,” she said. “In the near future, we all need to know Chinese.”
Not everyone is convinced. According to public opinion surveys funded by the Eurasian Development Bank, only one in six Kazakhs see China as a “friendly country”, compared to 84 per cent for Russia and 48 per cent for Belarus. On the other hand, China was among the top three nations most likely to be named as an “unfriendly country”.
“Statistically China is a very important trade partner of Kazakhstan. But a lot of people in Kazakhstan don’t think of China as a big investor. They think of China as a big problem — people here believe China tries to increase its economic influence without any benefit to our countries,” says Dosym Satpayev, a Kazakh political scientist who heads the Almaty-based Risk Assessment Group.
Part of the reason is historical: when their countries were part of the Soviet Union, Central Asians looked to Moscow for work, education and culture. Those ties have persisted after independence — as have Soviet-era clichés that paint China as a threat. Indeed, Sinophobia could be one of the greatest challenges for Beijing’s Silk Road project.
A proposal for China to lease a large area of land for agriculture triggered public protests in Kazakhstan in 2010. This year there was uproar in the north-western city of Aktobe after it was reported that the local affiliate of China National Petroleum Corporation was requiring workers to take Chinese language tests.
The “people-to-people bond” is officially one of China’s five goals in the region. But analysts say efforts to expand soft power have fallen short. “I do not think China has done enough. They have work to do to create a favourable image,” says Zhao Huasheng, director of the Centre for Russia and Central Asian Studies at Fudan University.
At the language school in Almaty, though, Beijing has no image problem. “Chinese people are simple, open and friendly,” says Yulia Abritsova, a 36-year-old interpreter who visited China for the first time last summer and plans to return for a degree. “It’s a bit like the Soviet Union.”
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