This thesis uses an organisational process model (OPM) under the framework of foreign policy analysis to examine China's foreign policy activities in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan between 2006 and 2016. It contends that People's Republic of China (PRC) companies, financiers and government bureaucracies all have their own standard operating procedures (SOPs) which govern their behaviour in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. This study presents a comprehensive overview of PRC foreign policy actors in

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... an and Tajikistan. It breaks down PRC foreign policy into economic and security components. In the economic sphere, Chinese firms have the strong financial backing of the state to undertake activities overseas and they are expected to support - or at least not oppose - the PRC's national interest. But as almost any economic activity overseas can be considered to be in the PRC's national interest, economic actors have significant autonomy in the running of their business activities. In the security sphere, because there are only a few actors and security policy is more sensitive, activities are more tightly controlled by the PRC central leadership. This work counters structural realist arguments which are dominant in the academic literature on China in Central Asia. The realist argument is that nations are the primary actors in international relations and they behave according to national interest. In Central Asia, realist authors argue that China is developing economic links to build political influence and promote its security interests. This author agrees that is the intent of the PRC central leadership, however contends that there is an implementation cost, as economic actors filter vague directives from the centre through their own institutional lenses. The realist argument assumes that the PRC's economic footprint in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan has continued to grow. But between 2006 and 2016 several metrics indicated that China's economic engagement with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan started dropping. PRC loan disbursement [...]