I don't see the logic behind it, honestly. I realize the Baesilus is new and only recently coronated and probably fearful of having his nose cut off so one of his generals or a rival aristocrat can replace him and probably trying to engage in a show of force to prove himself, but what good is annexing some small poverty-stricken Tengriist Khanates and Khaganates going to really do the Byzantine empire? I guess he could set up local Nestorian leaders as pro-Trebizond puppets, but where's the profit in the long run for such a costly military operation?
One, they don't call themselves "Byzantines" - they call themselves Romans, and they moved their capital after the last war. Be a bit more culturally sensitive.
Two, the fact that they _are_ poverty-striken and backwards means that it's not going to be particularly expensive, and I suspect that it's an effort to outflank the Rus, who also have influence in that area. It's not like the dual nuking of Byzantium and Tver in the last war has led the Rus to give up their claims on Ykrania, and what with the recent political turbulence, the steadfastness of the Byzantine's Polish-Lithuanian allies is in some doubt.
Frankly, I think the Chinese won't mind much, as long as the Byzantines don't move east of Lake Baiykal. The Chinese simply aren't expansionistic by culture: they could care less if the Byzantines push around the Khanates. They and Byzantines have never had a worse relationship than simple indifference, and the Federation's main economic and military interests are in SE Asia and the north Pacific.
BTW, DISSIDENT, it's harder to mount a coup in Byzantium than it used to be: you have to get the Restored Senate and the giant commercial combines (not to mention the all-powerful beaurocracy) on your side. So, these things take both time and really spectacular screw-ups on the part of the Emperor, so he's _more_ likely to get the boot if he screws up than if he just sits pat. Expansionist warfare really isn't practical anyway nowadays, what with everybody and his demented uncle having nuclear weapons, save for a few crapsack areas like the Khanates or the "Former Pan-Bantu empire".
Bruce