自1990 年以降，隨著中國擁有能力去明顯改變中亞五國個別的政治 和經濟路線，中亞地區與中國的關係便更加深化了。迄今，中國在這區域 內追求利益的過程中確實獲取到豐碩成果。這樣的情況是否會持續，某種 程度上將取決於中亞國家如何反應中國在此區域的涉入。在本文當中，筆 者將綜觀中國與中亞的關係發展，並探討四個有關於中國在中亞地區所扮 演之角色的相關論述，這些論述潛在地能型塑中國與中亞關係的短、中程 未來。這四個論述包含: 「中國作為保護者」、「中國作為侵略者」、「中國 作為投資者」與「中國作為剝削者」。

Since the 1990s, Sino-Central Asian relations have deepened to the degree that China now has the capacity to drastically alter the political and economic trajectories of each of the five states of the region. To date, China has enjoyed tremendous success in pursuing its interests in the region. Whether this continues to be the case will be determined in part by how Central Asians react to Chinese involvement in the region. In this paper, I overview the development of Sino-Central Asian relations and discuss four narratives about China’s role in the region which have the potential to shape these relations over the short and medium term future. These four narratives are: China as protector; China as aggressor; China as investor; and China as exploiter.