Officials and experts from China and Central Asian countries gathered Friday in Astana, Kazakhstan to discuss governance, cultural exchanges and humanitarian cooperation.
More than 260 participants from China and five Central Asian countries -- Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan -- exchanged views on the common approaches to progressing modernization and deepening regional cooperation.
The senior officials and experts explored how to enhance cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, support each other in following development paths in line with their national conditions, promote the establishment of a fairer and more reasonable international order, and strengthen international cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
Experts highlighted the importance of promoting humanitarian integration to facilitate cooperation in various other fields.
"We must remember that all economic, technical, and transport projects are done by people. Therefore, when we talk about humanitarian cooperation, nothing will grow without this field. Behind any technology, calculations, or investment there are people," said Adil Kaukenov, director of the Kazakhstan Center for Chinese Studies.
The participants said that this event further strengthened the exchange of governance experience between China and Central Asian countries and injected new impetus into deepening practical cooperation in various fields, allowing for the joint promotion of modernization and the building of a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future.
"We have very close contact with our Chinese colleagues. Four laboratories and international centers have been created based on the National Academy of Sciences with the help of our Chinese partners. I would say our work in this direction is very active," said Mamurdzhon Mirvaisov, head of the Department of International Scientific Relations of Tajikistan
"Party cooperation is now at a new level and also contributes to economic, humanitarian and cultural development. Within the framework of the memorandum signed with the Communist Party of China, young politicians can exchange views on technology, business, and education," said Daulet Karibek, executive secretary of Kazakhstan's AMANAT Party.
The event came ahead of the Central Asia-China Summit, scheduled for June in Astana.
Officials from China, Central Asia discuss governance, cultural exchanges
Thailand's rural tradition of elephant stewardship is rapidly vanishing as livelihoods change and younger people pursue opportunities elsewhere, threatening centuries of irreplaceable elephant-care knowledge.
For generations, mahouts in the region have passed on their tradition of closely bonding with the elephants they care for. Taweesuk Lapsan is one of a dwindling number of mahouts who diligently carry on the practice.
Long before the sun rises over the fields, he was already at work, gathering bundles of food for an animal that had been part of his family for generations.
"We've had elephants since our grandparents' and great-grandparents' generations. We've been around elephants our whole lives, so we have a strong connection and experience in raising them. That's how we've been able to live with them like this," the mahout said.
Caring for his elephant was not merely a job, but an inherited way of life. Years of daily coexistence forged an intimate bond defined by an intuitive understanding of subtle movements, sounds, and hesitations that take a lifetime to master.
"We live together like this. It's like a family. We're like family; we always go through things together. Until we breathe our last, it just depends on who lives longer," said Taweesuk.
Mahouts and elephants have been woven into parts of Thailand's cultural landscape, from rural livelihoods and traditional practices. However, the tradition has been upended by the collapse of the commercial logging industry and the rapid expansion of tourism.
As fewer young people follow in their families' footsteps, conservationists warned that an intricate system of animal care, refined over centuries, faces gradual extinction.
"When a mahout disappears, they are replaced by people who simply come in to take care of the elephants, essentially, elephant keepers. There are differences in terms of the bond between the keeper and the elephant, the cultural aspects, and the passing down of knowledge and traditions from one generation to the next. So we are concerned about the quality," said Parntep Ratanakorn, Secretary General of the Asian Elephant Foundation of Thailand.
Taweesuk said that his daughters may choose paths far removed from the stables, a decision he fully respects. As the practice fades, experts warn the loss extends far beyond a vanishing cultural heritage, threatening the daily welfare safety nets upon which captive elephants rely.
Thailand's centuries-old elephant care tradition face extinction as livelihoods change
