Kazakhstani Public Opinion Toward China: Understanding the Divide
Abstract
This paper argues that favorable opinions toward China in Kazakhstan are the product of Chinese investment into Kazakhstan, primarily through the recent Belt and Road Initiative, homophily, and xenophobia. Homophily and xenophobia in Kazakhstan have not been studied earlier, and this research uses data from surveys conducted by the Institute for Comparative Social Research (CESSI) in 2015, which were coded and analyzed using multiple regression analysis to investigate its impact on public opinion in Kazakhstan toward China. This study suggests that favorable opinions toward China in Kazakhstan are most closely correlated with the variables of age, Kazakh ethnicity, and location in a rural area.
This paper has been withdrawn.