Author: Saibal Dasgupta
Publication: The Times of India
Date: August 1, 2011
URL: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-01/china/29838192_1_kashgar-east-turkistan-islamic-movement-uyghur
Signs of a fissure developing in the "all-weather"
China-Pakistan relations became evident with Chinese officials in the border
province of Xinjiang blaming Pakistan for the renewed spate of violence on
Sunday in Kashgar town, which left nine people dead.
Kashgar authorities said in their official web site that terrorists captured
after a bomb attack had admitted that one of the group's leaders was trained
in making explosives and firearms at camps in Pakistan before infiltrating
back into China. The police have killed five of the terrorists representing
the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which runs a separatist movement in Xinjiang
province, it said.
The statement, made in the midst of Pakistan's
ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha's ongoing tour of China, has clearly been approved
by the highest authorities in Beijing. Pakistani media reported that Pasha
was travelling in Xinjiang on Sunday, the day the violence broke out. China
is clearly not convinced by his assurances of keeping the ultras under check.
"Pakistan government is not strong.
It is weak. It is hard for it to control the situation in the areas where
there is terrorism," Ma Jaili, director of the Centre of Strategic Studies
of the China Reform Forum run by the Central Party School of the Communist
Party, told TNN.
"But I don't think Pakistan government
is directly involved," Ma said. The government should adopt strong measures
to check infiltration of arms and ultras from Pakistan, he felt.
Sources in the Indian government said they
were closely watching the situation as Kashgar authorities would not issue
a sensitive statement on Pakistan without approval from authorities in Beijing.
It is clearly a sign that China was reviewing its equations with Pakistan
and working on a new strategy to deal with the terrorist problem on its border.
The violence that includes bomb attacks and
random stabbing of people on the street, comes immediately after the July
18 when 18 people including 14 "rioters" were killed in exchange
of fire between the police and terrorists.
Chinese officials have for years avoided
pointing the accusing finger at Pakistan although there has been clear evidence
that the separatist movement in Xinjiang was fueled by ideological and arms
support of terrorists based in Pakistan.
The ice was broken a few days back when the
head of a official think-tank, the Institute of Central Asia at the Xinjiang
Academy of Social Sciences, referred to the role of Pakistan in Xinjiang riots
after the July 18 clashes in Hotan, "Located in the southern part of
Xinjiang, Hotan is close to the border with Pakistan. Due to their affinity
in religion and language, some Uyghur residents there are at risk of being
influenced by terrorist groups such as the East Turkistan Islamic Movement,"
Pan Zhiping, director of the Institute was quoted in the State run Global
Times as saying.
These statements show there is a realization
in the Communist Party of China that its close relationship with the Jamat-e-Islami
and its protective attitude towards Pakistan have both failed to insulate
Xinjiang from separatist violence, sources said.
