will China send troops to Kyrgyzstan?

At the moment its looking remote, although if they did, it would be done under an SCO banner and last week the SCO at its Annual Heads of State Conference in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) did agree to send observers.

It appears remote though as any Boots on the ground are likely to be Russian led and this is likely to be organised by the CSTO, which I understand is discussing the crisis today.

i dont see that possibility for now. China's foreign policy operates under the principle of mutual non-intervention.

news come out that kyrgyzstan want US to help. that sounds like something Beijing would not mind to see. kyrgyzstan has traditionally been under the power sphere of russia, China would love to see such incident driving a wedge between the two countries and further diverting the stretched military and diplomatic resources of the US. i dont think washington would do it though.

Given US support for ousted former leader Bakiyev, who's supporters are being blamed for fanning the violence, I think the likelihood of Bishkek asking for US help is somewhat remote and would not be welcomed by any of the regional powers, especially given how they have all been keen to see the closure of the US Base at Manas.

The CSTO however has been meeting to discuss the crisis and apparently have come up with a plan, so presumably we will be seeing a Russian led mission to Osh.

BBC News - Uzbek refugees flee Kyrgyzstan violence

Earlier on Monday, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a regional grouping of former Soviet states, reached an outline agreement on measures to take as a response to the crisis.

No details have been released of the plans, but a Russian official has told the BBC that Moscow would not rule out sending peacekeeping troops.

Kyrgyzstan has asked Russia for troops, but it has so far refused. Correspondents say Moscow is reluctant to act unilaterally, although it has sent at least 150 paratroopers to protect its military facilities in the north of Kyrgyzstan.

Russia will probably do it. Putin looks for opportunities like this, for Russia to show it is a player in international affairs and to assert itself in its sphere of influence, especially when there is little risk of real casualties, i.e. Georgia and here.

Originally Posted by pla101prc

i dont see that possibility for now. China's foreign policy operates under the principle of mutual non-intervention

That's all very well, but what happens if one day a country like Russia isn't willing to do it alone?

China should contribute more to international security with boots on the ground in situations like this, even if it won't get involved this time. It's not like the PLA is in any way already heavily committed with overseas peacekeeping operations.

Just out of curiosity, isn't sending PAP instead of PLA side steps the "non-intervention" principles? I mean they are sending "police" instead of the military, so that counts as "humanitarian mission".

Russia is acting through the CSTO to provide significant material support to the Kyrgyz forces and the organisation would be prepared to send in its rapid reaction force if the situation deteriorated further.

CSTO to take measures to stop Kyrgyzstan chaos - RT

Originally Posted by Mr T

That's all very well, but what happens if one day a country like Russia isn't willing to do it alone?

China should contribute more to international security with boots on the ground in situations like this, even if it won't get involved this time. It's not like the PLA is in any way already heavily committed with overseas peacekeeping operations.

diplomacy 101, when you fiddle with ethnic matters of another country you are walking on a very slippery slope.

Though highly unlikely China will probably only send troops if Kyrgyzstan ask and through the Shanghai Cooperation. And if the Chinese send PAP's it probably won't be more than 200 troops.

It would be a stupid idea to send troops to Kyrgyzstan. First and foremost SCO is (at least China wants it to be) a peaceful, commercial organization. Second of all it will go against China's "peaceful rise" policies to deploy troops overseas. Just imagine how the neocons would react once the news gets out!
Third of all Russia is intervening with Krygyzstan since Krygyzstan used to be a part of the USSR and ties remain strong between the two nations. I believe that (correct me if I am wrong) Russia has military installations in Krygyzstan and they sent troops merely to reinforce the said installations.

I think China is still some distance away from sending troops anywhere. China will look for any other solution before military involvement, especially if there is no clearly defined objective where you can say after a few weeks or a couple of months that the objective has been realized. If anything, a peacekeeping mission is possible under some sort of international umbrella.

However, it does seem that China is getting somewhat worried, as various observers see the hand of foreign intelligence services in the disturbances. See this article by Bhadrakumar in ATOL.