Author:
Publication: Sify News
Date: September 17, 2003
URL: http://sify.com/news/international/fullstory.php?id=13253899&vsv=39
Trouble could be brewing between
long-time strategic allies China and Pakistan. Recent statements by a senior
Chinese official that separatist forces in the country's restive Xinjian
Autonomous Region have had training in several camps in Pakistan have led
to speculation on the ties between the two nations, according to Strategic
Forecasting (Stratfor).
Separatists in China's predominantly
Uighur-populated northwest were receiving assistance from international
militant groups, including instruction in ''several training camps in Pakistan'',
regional Communist Party secretary and Politburo member Wang Lequan said
at a September 11 press conference for foreign journalists.
The statement is a shocking deviation
of protocol between long-time allies China and Pakistan, the geopolitical
analytical firm said in a report.
In the past, it said, Beijing has
gone out of its way not to implicate Islamabad when speaking of the activities
of Islamist militant groups. However, if the quote attributed to Wang is
accurate and his views are official, it contains ''startling implications
for Chinese-Pakistani relations''.
Speaking about Beijing's struggle
with Muslim separatist groups in the Xinjiang region, Wang reportedly said
a small number of training camps had been found in Xinjiang since September
11, 2001, but that several more camps exist in Pakistan. He gave no further
details.
The official's statements could
have been poorly translated or unsanctioned, off-the-cuff remarks, Stratfor
said. But if his words reflect the current party line, a very sharp policy
shift vis-a-vis Islamabad has occurred in Beijing, it added.
About 10 million of Xinjiang's 19
million people are Muslim Uighurs, many of whom claim they are a distinct
ethnic group with a right to declare their own homeland.
Beijing has suppressed a Uighur
separatist movement in Xinjiang for more than a decade, and more than half
a million Uighurs reportedly have fled from China into neighbouring Pakistan
and Central Asia since 1996. From there, Stratfor alleged, they slip arms,
aid and insurgents back across the border, aiding the rebellion.
