China asks US for help in fighting Islamist militants in Xinjiang region

sorcerer

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2013
Messages
26,920
Likes
98,472
Country flag
China asks US for help in fighting Islamist militants in Xinjiang region

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 05 August, 2015, 1:52pm


China has appealed for US support in fighting Islamist militants in the far western Chinese region of Xinjiang, saying they are also a threat to the United States. :D

Chinese officials say the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, or ETIM, recruits Uygurs, a largely Muslim ethnic minority from Xinjiang, and trains them with extremists in Syria and Iraq with the intent of returning to China to wage holy war.

Many foreign experts, however, have questioned whether ETIM exists as the coherent group China claims it is.

The threat of terror grows “more complicated and severe by the day”, China’s Foreign Ministry said late on Tuesday following a meeting between Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping and Tina Kaidanow, Ambassador-At-Large for the US State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism.

“China stressed the serious threat of ETIM and other East Turkestan terror organisations to China, the United States and the international community and requested that the United States vigorously support and coordinate with China in combating the efforts of East Turkestan terrorism forces,” the ministry said.

Both sides agreed to combat cyber terrorism and violent extremism and strengthen anti-terrorism intelligence, it added.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Uygurs have illegally crossed the Chinese border in recent years, travelling to Turkey via Southeast Asia.

Rights groups say such migrants are fleeing ethnic violence in Xinjiang and Chinese controls on their religion and culture, allegations Beijing denies.

Hundreds of people have died in unrest in Xinjiang in the last three years, blamed by Beijing on Islamist militants, but Chinese officials have offered little evidence that the violence is linked to ETIM, which Washington deemed a terror group after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Some officials in the US government have privately questioned the extent of the organisation’s influence in Xinjiang, although experts note that US rhetoric on the group may be swinging back in favour of Beijing.

China has ramped up counter-terrorism efforts following deadly attacks in recent years, including a mass stabbing in March 2014 at a train station in the southwestern city of Kunming in which 31 people were killed.

The government is on heightened alert ahead of an international athletics event in Beijing this month and a parade also in Beijing in September to mark 70 years since the end of the second world war.

“The bottom line is anti-terrorism work must be implemented well to ensure terrorist plots are foiled before they can be carried out,” the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted deputy public security minister Huang Ming as saying.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/dipl...-us-help-fighting-islamist-militants-xinjiang

=======
 

sorcerer

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2013
Messages
26,920
Likes
98,472
Country flag
China Official Says Island-Building Has Stopped in Disputed Seas

August 5, 2015


KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—China’s foreign minister said at a Southeast Asian summit that it had halted land-reclamation efforts in the disputed South China Sea in an attempt to smooth tensions with its territorial rivals. But the statement was greeted with skepticism by U.S. officials.

While Beijing previously said it would halt its island-building projects, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters on Wednesday that the controversial activities had stopped. But U.S. officials questioned whether China had really halted its land-reclamation drive.

Mr. Wang apparently was trying to reassure neighboring countries about China’s intentions during meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this week in Malaysia, involving the 10 Asean members and other Asia-Pacific countries, including China and the U.S.

Billing China as the region’s indispensable partner, Mr. Wang told Asean that China has the money, technology and know-how to help the countries develop their infrastructure and grow their economies.

China’s construction of artificial islands in at least seven locations in the disputed Spratly Islands during the past year damaged China’s image in parts of Southeast Asia, particularly upsetting rival South China Sea claimants Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. China claims almost all of the South China Sea and says it has the right to build there.

China’s decision to forge ahead with the artificial islands, despite its neighbors concerns, has unsettled several countries. On Tuesday, Asean Secretary-General Le Luong Minh said China’s expansionism in the South China Sea was “dangerous” and eroded the trust between China and Asean. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Asean countries should work together to address China’s territorial challenge. The Philippines and Vietnam have both repeatedly protested Beijing’s island-building program.

Mr. Wang offered a new 10-point plan to boost China-Asean relations, which he said would overtake any territorial frictions. In doing so, he presented China as a force for good in Southeast Asia. “China has no intention of competing with other countries” when it comes to working with Southeast Asia to spur development, he said.


China has accused the U.S. of sowing dissent in the region by talking up the issue of the South China Sea disputes and encouraging regional allies like the Philippines to stand up to Beijing. China is also wary of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed free-trade group from which China is currently excluded.


ENLARGE
U.S. officials played down the foreign minister’s comments about halting land reclamation, saying Washington is skeptical that the work had stopped. Even if there has been a pause in construction, U.S. officials said it would be difficult to determine whether the stoppage was permanent or temporary.

Earlier Wednesday Mr. Wang met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who had called for a freeze on China’s reclamation activities in the run-up to the talks in the Malaysian capital.

Mr. Kerry “encouraged China … to halt problematic actions,” according to a senior U.S. official familiar with the discussions. “Secretary Kerry reiterated his concern about rising tensions over disputed claims in the South China Sea and China’s large scale reclamation, construction and militarization of features there,” the official said.

Satellite images reveal that China has been building a large airstrip on one of these man-made features, raising concerns that Beijing may attempt to enforce an air-defense identification zone in the South China Sea. The U.S. has made it clear that it will oppose any attempt to limit freedom of navigation in the disputed sea, through which around $5 trillion in maritime trade passes annually.

The State Department official also said Mr. Kerry had discussed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the U.S. next month—a possible factor in China’s attempts to ratchet down regional tensions at the Asean talks.

Mr. Wang said the opportunities of China-Asean cooperation far outweighed any tensions, noting that Southeast Asian countries had responded positively to recent Chinese development initiatives, such as Beijing’s new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and its Maritime Silk Road project designed to boost regional commerce.

Mr. Wang’s conciliatory message was welcomed in some quarters. Thailand’s deputy prime minister, Tanasak Patimapragorn, chairman of the Asean-China ministerial meeting that took place Wednesday, praised China’s willingness to work with Asean countries, and said that a “new phase of consultations” would soon deliver a legally binding code of conduct for the South China Sea. Thailand isn’t involved in any territorial dispute with China.

—Adam Entous contributed to this article.

Write to Trefor Moss at [email protected]

Correction:
Around $5 trillion in maritime trade passes through the South China Sea every year. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the amount is around $5 billion. (Aug. 6, 2015)

www.wsj.com/articles/china-official-says-island-building-has-stopped-in-disputed-seas-1438793782
 

sorcerer

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2013
Messages
26,920
Likes
98,472
Country flag
:D
Welll...So much for peaceful rise!!!
Good to know that both the news came out of China on Wednesday the 5th of August.
 

badguy2000

Respected Member
Senior Member
Joined
May 20, 2009
Messages
5,133
Likes
746
Can two sleep on one bed?……………
 

Anikastha

DEEP STATE
Senior Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2015
Messages
5,005
Likes
8,881
Country flag
China Official Says Island-Building Has Stopped in Disputed Seas

August 5, 2015


KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—China’s foreign minister said at a Southeast Asian summit that it had halted land-reclamation efforts in the disputed South China Sea in an attempt to smooth tensions with its territorial rivals. But the statement was greeted with skepticism by U.S. officials.

While Beijing previously said it would halt its island-building projects, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters on Wednesday that the controversial activities had stopped. But U.S. officials questioned whether China had really halted its land-reclamation drive.

Mr. Wang apparently was trying to reassure neighboring countries about China’s intentions during meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this week in Malaysia, involving the 10 Asean members and other Asia-Pacific countries, including China and the U.S.

Billing China as the region’s indispensable partner, Mr. Wang told Asean that China has the money, technology and know-how to help the countries develop their infrastructure and grow their economies.

China’s construction of artificial islands in at least seven locations in the disputed Spratly Islands during the past year damaged China’s image in parts of Southeast Asia, particularly upsetting rival South China Sea claimants Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. China claims almost all of the South China Sea and says it has the right to build there.

China’s decision to forge ahead with the artificial islands, despite its neighbors concerns, has unsettled several countries. On Tuesday, Asean Secretary-General Le Luong Minh said China’s expansionism in the South China Sea was “dangerous” and eroded the trust between China and Asean. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Asean countries should work together to address China’s territorial challenge. The Philippines and Vietnam have both repeatedly protested Beijing’s island-building program.

Mr. Wang offered a new 10-point plan to boost China-Asean relations, which he said would overtake any territorial frictions. In doing so, he presented China as a force for good in Southeast Asia. “China has no intention of competing with other countries” when it comes to working with Southeast Asia to spur development, he said.


China has accused the U.S. of sowing dissent in the region by talking up the issue of the South China Sea disputes and encouraging regional allies like the Philippines to stand up to Beijing. China is also wary of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed free-trade group from which China is currently excluded.


ENLARGE
U.S. officials played down the foreign minister’s comments about halting land reclamation, saying Washington is skeptical that the work had stopped. Even if there has been a pause in construction, U.S. officials said it would be difficult to determine whether the stoppage was permanent or temporary.

Earlier Wednesday Mr. Wang met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who had called for a freeze on China’s reclamation activities in the run-up to the talks in the Malaysian capital.

Mr. Kerry “encouraged China … to halt problematic actions,” according to a senior U.S. official familiar with the discussions. “Secretary Kerry reiterated his concern about rising tensions over disputed claims in the South China Sea and China’s large scale reclamation, construction and militarization of features there,” the official said.

Satellite images reveal that China has been building a large airstrip on one of these man-made features, raising concerns that Beijing may attempt to enforce an air-defense identification zone in the South China Sea. The U.S. has made it clear that it will oppose any attempt to limit freedom of navigation in the disputed sea, through which around $5 trillion in maritime trade passes annually.

The State Department official also said Mr. Kerry had discussed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the U.S. next month—a possible factor in China’s attempts to ratchet down regional tensions at the Asean talks.

Mr. Wang said the opportunities of China-Asean cooperation far outweighed any tensions, noting that Southeast Asian countries had responded positively to recent Chinese development initiatives, such as Beijing’s new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and its Maritime Silk Road project designed to boost regional commerce.

Mr. Wang’s conciliatory message was welcomed in some quarters. Thailand’s deputy prime minister, Tanasak Patimapragorn, chairman of the Asean-China ministerial meeting that took place Wednesday, praised China’s willingness to work with Asean countries, and said that a “new phase of consultations” would soon deliver a legally binding code of conduct for the South China Sea. Thailand isn’t involved in any territorial dispute with China.

—Adam Entous contributed to this article.

Write to Trefor Moss at [email protected]

Correction:
Around $5 trillion in maritime trade passes through the South China Sea every year. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the amount is around $5 billion. (Aug. 6, 2015)

www.wsj.com/articles/china-official-says-island-building-has-stopped-in-disputed-seas-1438793782
Won't believe how chinese are bowing to americans and stopped construction of islands:hmm:...Some thing is fishy:playball:
 

badguy2000

Respected Member
Senior Member
Joined
May 20, 2009
Messages
5,133
Likes
746
Won't believe how chinese are bowing to americans and stopped construction of islands:hmm:...Some thing is fishy:playball:
it is "land-reclamation" that has been stopped.

the construction on the "reclamated land" is still on...
it is just a tricks of phraises...


after all, the "land-relamation" always ends after finished.
it is time for Chinese to build necessary familites on the islands.
 

I_PLAY_BAD

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2015
Messages
943
Likes
498
Isn't it meaningful for China to seek the help of Pakistan who is an expert in Islamic Terrorism handling ?
And, the help of a next door neighbour can never match that of a one provide by someone from overseas.
 

Latest Replies

Global Defence

New threads

Articles

Top