Silver Lining? Tajikistan defends controversial decision to give mine to China, 4 October 2019

Tajik authorities are defending their decision to give a Chinese company the rights to develop a major silver mine...

“The Yakjilva mine has only 415 tons of silver deposits, is situated some 4,500 meters above sea level, and there is no electricity, water, or roads there,” the government said in a statement...

The statement urged “all compatriots to try to properly understand the issue before expressing opinions about it.”

“It doesn’t mean selling or giving away the country’s natural resources and it’s not some form of settling the [country’s external] debts. It’s a routine...foreign investment project,” it added...

Not much information has been made public by either side about any of the details of the agreement. With virtually no discussion on the issue in parliament, no one is sure what motivated Tajik officials to make the deal...

A company representative told the lawmakers that the firm has hired more than 100 Tajiks to work at the mine along with about 70 Chinese employees...

The Chinese representative said local employees earn about $270 a month on average.

Tajik lawmaker Abduhalim Ghafforov criticized the amount as “miserable” for working in the high-altitude region that under Tajik law requires hazardous pay for the employees due to the hardship.

The decision over Yakjilva brought criticism from some social-media users in Tajikistan who expressed concern about “selling out” the country to China...