appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

Reuters

China plans to finance and build several outposts and other facilities to beef up Tajikistan’s defence capabilities along its border with Afghanistan, the Tajik government said on Monday.
The Central Asian nation’s 1,345-km border with its southern neighbour is leaky and Dushanbe routinely reports clashes between border guards and armed drug smugglers there.
The increased activity of Afghan Taliban in the northern Kunduz province is another source of concern.
A large part of the main highway connecting Tajikistan’s most populous regions to China lies along the same border and armed trespassers this year kidnapped several Tajiks doing maintenance work on that road.
As China takes greater stake in Central Asia, rewards bring their own risk
In a decree published on Monday, the government instructed the State National Security Committee to sign an agreement with the Chinese side that provides for the construction of 11 outposts of different sizes and a training centre for border guards.
China, which according to official statistics sells goods worth US$2.5 billion a year to Tajikistan has already built one outpost on the Tajik-Afghan border, its first, earlier this year.
Russia used to station its own border guards on the frontier until 2005, and after that kept a regiment in the Tajik city of Kulyab, 42km from the Afghan border. But Moscow pulled the regiment out in December last year and moved it to the capital, Dushanbe, about 200km further away.
Another ‘Great Game’: Why China’s PLA is jostling for position with the world’s armed forces in tiny Djibouti
China confirmed last year that it would build a military logistics facilities in Djibouti to support Chinese peacekeeping and anti-piracy missions. No completion date has yet been given for the base.
It is seen as a move to strengthen China’s presence in Africa.


China to build outposts for Tajik guards on Tajikistan-Afghanistan border

A US soldier stands guard near Afghanistan’s Shir Khan border crossing point with Tajikistan. Photo: SCMP Pictures

News

China

Diplomacy