ចិនធ្វើសមយុទ្ធប្រឆាំងភេរវកម្មជាមួយតាជីគីស្ថានខណៈការហូរចូលអាហ្វហ្គានីស្ថានព្រួយបារម្ភពីការកាន់កាប់អាស៊ីកណ្តាល

- Central Asian nations bordering Afghanistan rendered particularly vulnerable to rising instability there, while China is wary of any impact on Xinjiang

- The joint drills show mutual determination to combat terrorism and effectively respond to terrorist threats, China’s public security minister said

Chinese and Tajik troops take part in an eight-day drill in Tajikistan’s high-altitude Pamirs region bordering China’s Xinjiang region and Afghanistan, in August 2019. Photo: Xinhua

China started a joint anti-terrorism exercise with Tajikistan on Wednesday, amid growing security concerns in the region following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

While both China and Tajikistan share borders with Afghanistan, the latter’s 1,344km (835-mile) border in particular has rendered it one of the most vulnerable to the rising instability next door after the insurgent group took power.

The “Counterterrorism Collaboration 2021” exercises, led by China’s Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan would last two days, the Chinese ministry said on its website.

The latest manoeuvres, taking place just outside the Tajik capital of Dushanbe, come only three days after a chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s swift takeover of the reins, stirring deep concerns that terrorist forces in a Taliban-run Afghanistan would cross its borders and spread to neighbouring countries.

“The current international situation is changing and the regional counterterrorism situation is not optimistic,” Zhao Kezhi, China’s minister of public security, said in letters sent to Ramazon Hamro Rahimzoda, Tajikistan’s internal affairs minister, and Saimumin Yatimov, chairman of its State Committee for National Security.

The joint exercises, Zhao wrote, “would enhance the level of operational readiness of the counterterrorism forces of the two sides to practise counterterrorism skills, and demonstrate the determination of both sides to combat terrorism and effectively respond to the terrorist threats faced by both countries”, according to a readout by the Chinese ministry.

China is willing to work closely with Tajikistan on border control and to push forward cooperation under the eight-member Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) “to jointly safeguard bilateral and regional security”, Zhao wrote.

In a statement on Monday, Rahimzoda had said the joint tactical exercises would focus on combating terrorism in mountainous conditions. During his ministry’s meeting with a visiting Chinese public security delegation in Dushanbe the same day, the two sides also discussed combating organised crime, information exchange and the training of highly qualified personnel.

Central Asia has faced grave security pressures since US President Joe Biden last month announced plans for a full troop pull-out from Afghanistan. Most concerned are Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, as they share borders with the war-torn country.

China, meanwhile, is deeply worried that extremists and terrorists in Afghanistan and Central Asia would see the withdrawal of US forces as an opportunity to spill over into the highly sensitive Xinjiang region and threaten the safety of Beijing’s strategic investments under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Earlier this month, Tajikistan hosted troops from Russia and Uzbekistan in trilateral military exercises in a training field just 20km (12 miles) from its border with Afghanistan, while China and Russia last week carried out joint military drills focused on counterterrorism in the northwestern Chinese region of Ningxia.

The situation in Afghanistan is also expected to be high on agenda when Tajikistan hosts the SCO leaders’ summit next month. An eight-member mechanism led by China and Russia, the group includes the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, apart from Tajikistan. India and Pakistan joined in 2017, while Afghanistan is an observer member.

China and Tajikistan have significantly deepened their security ties since the US started its war in Afghanistan in 2001.

The two countries have conducted several joint military exercises since 2006, both bilaterally and under the SCO – which aims to address security concerns in Central Asia and the wider Eurasia.

During his visit to Dushanbe last month, Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe told Tajik President Emomali Rahmon that his side was willing to step up mutual counterterrorism cooperation to stop the cross-border spread of terror activities and jointly combat terrorists to ensure regional stability.

SCMP