President Xi Jinping pictured with King Salman bin Abdulaziz during the Chinese head of state’s visit to Saudi Arabia in January. Photo: AFP
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https://scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2040590/china-holds-first-anti-terrorism-drills-saudi-arabian Diplomacy
China holds first anti-terrorism drills with Saudi Arabian special forces
Twenty-five people from each side took part in training in anti-terrorist combat skills and tactics, state media reports, as China increases its ties in the Middle East
A file picture of Chinese commandos taking part in an anti-terrorism training exercise in Beijing in 2014 simulating a bus hijacking. Photo: Reuters
Special forces from China and Saudi Arabia have held their first joint anti-terrorism drills, state media reported on Thursday, China’s latest effort to expand security ties with countries in the Middle East and its Muslim neighbours.
China says its companies and citizens face a growing threat from terrorism as its global footprint expands and the government has been getting more involved diplomatically in trouble spots in areas such as the Middle East.
President Xi Jinping visited Saudi Arabia early this year, vowing to expand security cooperation and oppose terrorism.
Twenty-five people from each side took part in training over two weeks from October 10 focused on anti-terrorism combat skills and tactics near China’s southwestern city of Chongqing, the People’s Liberation Army Daily said.
“This joint anti-terrorism training is directed at raising the two militaries’ ability to combat terrorism and non-traditional security threats,” the paper said.
Chinese officials have long been concerned that instability in Afghanistan will spill over into China’s western region of Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uygur people. Hundreds of people have died there in recent years in unrest the government blames on militant separatists.
The authorities in bordering Kyrgyzstan said a suicide bomb attack on the Chinese embassy in the Kyrgyz capital in August was ordered by Uygur militants active in Syria.
In the face of such threats, China in August set up an anti-terrorism alliance with neighbours Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, which all border Xinjiang.
From October 20 to October 24, more than 400 troops from China and Tajikistan held joint anti-terrorism drills along the remote mountainous Tajik border with Afghanistan, Chinese media reported on Tuesday.
Afghan officials observed the exercises, which included hostage rescue and combat training.
Human rights groups say violence in Xinjiang is more a reaction to repressive government policies and limits on Uygurs’ religious freedoms, accusations the government denies.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of Uygurs have fled the unrest and travelled clandestinely via Southeast Asia to Turkey. China says some of them then end up joining militants in Iraq and Syria.