BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.6
Trend:
China hopes for an early stabilization of the situation in Kazakhstan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a briefing on Jan. 6, Trend reports via TASS.
"The events ongoing in Kazakhstan is an internal affair of this country," Wenbin noted.
“We hope that the situation will stabilize and social order will be restored,” added the diplomat.
Kazakhstan's government announced late Jan. 4 that it was restoring some price caps on liquefied petroleum gas, after the rare protests reached Almaty following a sharp rise in the price of the fuel at the start of the year.
Many Kazakhs have converted their cars to run on LPG, which is far cheaper than gasoline as a vehicle fuel in Kazakhstan because of price caps. But the government argued that the low price was unsustainable and lifted the caps on Jan. 1.
After the price of the fuel spiked, big demonstrations erupted on Jan. 2 in certain parts of the country. Public protests are illegal in the country unless their organizers file a notice in advance. Following the development of the situation, the government declared a state of emergency all over the country.