China holds firm on Xinjiang as neighbouring Afghanistan poses security concerns

Name: US retaliates for Kabul airport attack with drone strikes on Afghan capital and border region
Uploaded: 2021-08-30T09:01:11.000Z
Duration: 2 min 52 s
Description: US retaliates for Kabul airport attack with drone strikes on Afghan capital and border region

Counterterrorism and stability measures will continue in the remote region which shares a border with the war-torn country

Beijing has sought assurances from the Taliban that it will cut ties with terrorist groups, including ETIM

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Police officers patrol streets of Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang region, which shares a border with Afghanistan. Photo: Reuters

Kinling Lo

Published: 5:01pm, 30 Aug 2021Updated: 11:30pm, 30 Aug 2021

China has vowed to press on with its security measures in Xinjiang – which have been criticised by the US and other countries as human rights abuses – amid concerns about the developing situation in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Xinjiang government spokesman Xu Guixiang said on Monday that the security of Afghanistan, which shares a mountainous 74km (46 miles) border with the northwestern Chinese region, had always had a direct impact on the area.

“No matter how the external environment changes, we will firmly hold on to the goal of development and security in our work in Xinjiang, and ensure the big picture – that … society will be stable, all ethnic groups can live in peace and stability, and there will be prosperous development in the economy,” he said.

“We are unwavering in pushing on with all these measures, especially those on counterterrorism and stability. We will sit tight on our fishing boat regardless of the wind and waves.”

Xu did not respond when asked if the government had increased security or moved more troops to the border with Afghanistan in the wake of deadly suicide bombings at the airport in Kabul last week, and ahead of the Tuesday deadline for the official US military withdrawal.

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US retaliates for Kabul airport attack with drone strikes on Afghan capital and border region

Beijing has been keen to promote stability in Afghanistan, not least because of its concerns over a terrorism “spillover” across the border by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) – a separatist group founded by militant Uygurs which Beijing blamed for a spate of violent attacks in Xinjiang.