Pakistan Conflict Monitor

China-Pakistan Relations

China-Pakistan Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, 6 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Since establishing diplomatic ties in 1951, China and Pakistan have enjoyed a close and mutually beneficial relationship. Pakistan was one of the first countries to recognize the People's Republic of China in 1950 and remained a steadfast ally during Beijing's period of international isolation in the 1960s and early 1970s. China has long provided Pakistan with major military, technical, and economic assistance, including the transfer of sensitive nuclear technology and equipment. Some experts predict growing relations between the United States and rival India will ultimately prompt Pakistan to push for even closer ties with its longtime strategic security partner, China. Others say China's increased concern about Pakistan-based insurgency groups may cause Beijing to proceed with the relationship in a more cautious manner."

Read the full backgrounder.

Related articles:
China's patience paying off in Central Asia, World Politics Review, 14 July 2010
Afghanistan in China's emerging Eurasian transport corridor, The Hudson Institute, 14 July 2010
Call for China-India initiative for Pakistan stability, The Hindu, 12 July 2010
China-Pakistan military relations, World Politics Review, 9 July 2010
Chinese separatists tied to Norway bomb plot, The New York Times, 9 July 2010
China says terror bust underscores enduring threat, The Associated Press, 24 June 2010

Related reports:
China's caution on Afghanistan-Pakistan [pdf], The Washington Quarterly, July 2010

Related posts:
Intensifying China-Pakistan ties: Interview, 7 July 2010
China, Pakistan to hold third anti-terror drill, 24 June 2010
Pakistan to assist China against Uighur separatists, 18 June 2010
Pakistan's jihadist movements and the challenge to China, 25 February 2010
Pakistan, China to jointly work on counter-terrorism strategy, 13 November 2009

Intensifying China-Pakistan Ties: Interview

Intensifying China-Pakistan Ties, Council on Foreign Relations, 7 July 2010

EXCERPT: " [...] while the relationship between the two countries is strong, it's shadowed by Beijing's concerns about Pakistan's security threat and its impact on Chinese investment and personnel in Pakistan, says Andrew Small, an expert on China-Pakistan relations at the German Marshall Fund for the United States. Small adds that China might make deals with various militant groups inside Pakistan to ensure safety for its assets and workers. [...] [Q] What kind of cooperation is there between the two countries on fighting militancy inside Pakistan? [A] China has provided some practical support to Pakistani operations--equipment, provisions for internally displaced persons during the Swat campaign, and so on. [...] To the extent that Pakistan asks for China's help on the threat of militancy, it has evidently been willing to provide it. But the bulk of military cooperation is still focused on India, and China evidently has little desire to get too much caught up in or associated with broader internal campaigns aside from the crackdowns on the East Turkestan Islamic Movement and Turkestan Islamic Party, the Uighur militant groups."

Read the full interview.

Related articles:
China, Pakistan vow to step up fight against terrorism, AFP, 7 July 2010
Chinese rail link to Pakistan matter of concern: India, The Times of India, 7 July 2010
Pakistan's president visits China, VOA News, 6 July 2010

Related posts:
Afghanistan-Pakistan and Central Asia, 30 June 2010
China, Pakistan to hold third anti-terror drill, 24 June 2010
Pakistan to assist China against Uighur separatists, 18 June 2010
Pakistan claims successes against Chinese extremists as China expands assistance, 7 May 2010
Pakistan's jihadist movements and the challenge to China, 25 February 2010
Can China deliver in Pakistan?, 3 December 2009

Afghanistan-Pakistan and Central Asia

Afghanistan-Pakistan and Central Asia, Institut für Strategie-Politik-Sicherheits-und Wirtschaftsberatung via the Human Security Gateway, 18 June 2010

EXCERPT: "With the US-led West getting about to withdraw from Afghanistan - the real upsurge for the crucial region historically known as the Between and Betwixt of Empires is about to begin in earnest. This will be a confluence - a perfect storm - of the revival and resurrection of historic mega-trends under contemporary conditions. Most important are the revival of the original Russian-Chinese 'Great Game'. For almost three centuries, Central Asia was the preeminent zone of confrontation between China’s Manchu Dynasty (1644-1912) and Russia’s Romanov Dynasty (1613-1917). Now, the Heart of Asia has once again become the zone Between and Betwixt Empires in more than mere geopolitical terms. However, what makes the current situation uniquely explosive and dangerous is the surge of the Jihadist movement - emboldened by its enduring of the US/ISAF war in Afghanistan and Pakistan - as a most vibrant and violent force that is setting the Heart of Asia aflame. The Jihadist movement is facilitating the Chinese ascent as a global hegemon in return for a Chinese umbrella against US and Western retaliation. This confluence of historic and grand strategic mega-trends constitutes not only a threat to the quintessential vital interests of Russia - but to the well-being of the entire industrialized North."

Read the full report.

Related posts:
China, Pakistan to hold third anti-terror drill, 24 June 2010
Moscow attacks linked to Al-Qaeda, Afghan-Pakistan border, 30 March 2010
Pakistan's jihadist movements and the challenge to China, 25 February 2010
Central Asians in armed Islamist movements in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 18 February 2010
US-China relations: Seeking strategic convergence in Pakistan, 13 January 2010
Can China deliver in Pakistan?, 3 December 2009

China, Pakistan to Hold Third Anti-Terror Drill

Pakistan Pledges Support as Beijing Turns the Screw on Xinjiang, The Hindu, 24 June 2010

EXCERPT: "In a week when much of the attention has been on Pakistan securing controversial support from China in the way of two nuclear reactors, Islamabad has announced a significant stepping-up of its cooperation with Beijing on tackling terrorism — one of the few areas where the “all-weather” friends have not always seen eye to eye. The two countries on Thursday announced they will conduct a joint terror drill to coincide with the sensitive one-year anniversary of deadly riots in China's far western Muslim-majority Xinjiang region, which borders Pakistan. The drill, named “Friendship 2010”, will be conducted between July 1 and 11 in north-western Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, officials at China's Ministry of Defence said. While the joint terror drill will be the third of its kind, it has assumed particular significance because of its timing. Thursday's announcement followed last week's visit to Beijing of Pakistani General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, during which the two countries reaffirmed their strategic and security ties. The Pakistani General is understood to have pledged greater support to China in tackling terror, though his visit was overshadowed by attention on China's controversial agreement to set up two nuclear reactors in Pakistan."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
China says terrorist cell broken up; 10 arrested, Los Angeles Times, 24 June 2010

Related posts:
Pakistan to assist China against Uighur separatists, 18 June 2010
Pakistan claims successes against Chinese extremists as China expands assistance, 7 May 2010
Pakistan's jihadist movements and the challenge to China, 25 February 2010
Can China deliver in Pakistan?, 3 December 2009
Pakistan, China to jointly work on counter-terrorism strategy, 13 November 2009

Pakistan to Assist China against Uighur Separatists

China Seeks Pak Help to Deal with Separatists on Border, The Times of India, 17 June 2010

EXCERPT: "China on Thursday made it clear it is banking heavily on Pakistan's support to fight the Uighur separatists in the border region of Xingjian, who have posed on of the biggest challenges to Chinese authorities. The two countries have devised an anti-terrorism program under which Pakistani security forces will push back Uighur fighters trying to cross the border to seek sanctuary in terrorists camps in Pakistan. 'We should work together to deepen bilateral cooperation in defense security and other sectors,' Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the Chinese parliament, told the visiting Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The two neighbors are now trying to intensify their 'strategic cooperative partnership'. Pakistan has obtained huge benefits including nuclear assistance by utilizing China's fears of Islamic fundamentalism spilling over to its border. But Wu's public statement will prove to be an added help to Pakistani leaders in their quest to gain public support for the operation against Uighur separatists who enjoy some support within Pakistan. Both We and Chinese defense minister Liang Guanglie asking Kayani to enhance the involvement of the armed forces from the two sides in the fight against what is called the 'East Turkistan Islamic movement' by Uighur seeking to split China to create an independent nation. One of the things Beijing desperately wants is Pakistani help in cutting off the links between Uighur separatists and Islamic fundamentalists groups across the border in Pakistan."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Pakistan, China pledge to boost defence ties, The Daily Times, 18 June 2010
China says Pakistan nuclear deal 'peaceful', BBC News, 18 June 2010

Related posts: 
Pakistan's jihadist movements and the challenge to China, 25 February 2010
US-China relations: Seeking strategic convergence in Pakistan, 13 January 2010
China and Pakistan: A formidable partnership in high-tech defense production, 18 December 2009
Can China deliver in Pakistan?, 3 December 2009
Pakistan, China to jointly work on counter-terrorism strategy, 13 November 2009

Pakistan Claims Successes Against Chinese Extremists as China Expands Assistance

Uighur Leader Killed in Pakistan: Interior Minister, Reuters, 7 May 2010

EXCERPT: "Pakistan and China have 'broken the back' of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which China accuses of orchestrating attacks in its restive Xinjiang region, Pakistan's Interior Minister said in Beijing on Friday. An alleged leader of the group, about which little is known, has been killed, Rehman Malik said at the end of a visit to discuss security cooperation between the two countries. China has granted long-standing ally Pakistan a $180 million loan to purchase police equipment, including armoured personnel carriers and bullet-proof jackets, Malik told reporters. 'I am happy to inform you that their back is broken, it's weakened,' Malik said, referring to ETIM. 'We treat ETIM not only as an enemy of China but also as an enemy of Pakistan ... Now the other so-called gang leader Haq has been killed recently, I can confirm that.' Malik appeared to be referring to Abdul Haq, an ETIM leader also known as Memetiming Memeti, who China says took over leadership of ETIM in 2003 after the death in Pakistan of previous leader Hasan Mahsum. 'We have also heard this but we don't have any further information and so cannot elaborate,' Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, an exile group, said on Friday. [...] In addition to the loan, China has offered a training programme for Pakistani forces and donated 2 million yuan for the procurement of police equipment, Malik said."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
China vows to expand Sino-Pakistani law enforcement co-operation, China View, 7 May 2010
Chinese terrorist leader Abdul Haq al Turkistan is dead: Pakistan Interior Minister [blog], The Long War Journal, 7 May 2010
Kabul's new patron? The growing Afghan-Chinese relationship, Foreign Affairs, 13 April 2010
Effects of Uighur unrest, DAWN, 13 July 2009

Related posts:
Drone kills leader of Chinese separatist movement, 2 March 2010
Pakistan's jihadist movements and the challenge to China, 25 February 2010
US-China relations: Seeking strategic convergence in Pakistan, 13 January 2010
Pakistan, China to jointly work on counter-terrorism strategy, 13 November 2010

Pakistan Builds Up Navy to Fight Terrorism, Piracy

Pakistan Navy Planning Massive Overhaul, New Acquisitions to Counter Terror Challenges, Oneindia News, 23 April 2010

EXCERPT: "The Pakistan Navy  is planning a massive overhaul of its current fleet and would acquire several new ships and other hardware in order to effectively face terrorism and piracy challenges posed in the high seas. Interacting with reporters on the sidelines of the Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2010 exhibition, which is being held in Kuala Lumpur, Pakistan Navy Chief Admiral Noman Bashir said as part of a comprehensive strategy, the country's naval forces would be acquiring several new ships and upgrade its submarine operations to enhance its sea surveillance capability. A press statement issued by the Pakistan Navy, said that it has already acquired two new F-22 frigates from China, and that the third vessel is to be commissioned in two to three months time."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Pakistan gets two P-3C Orion surveillance aircraft, The News International, 30 April 2010
High alert on India's water borders, BBC News, 29 April 2010
US to provide Pakistan Navy with missile frigate, DAWN, 26 April 2010
Pakistan gets 2nd AEW&C jet from Sweden, The News International, 25 April 2010
Admiral Noman Bashir, Pakistan Navy [interview], Proceedings of the US Naval Institute, March 2010

Related posts:
Air force doctrine changed to tackle militancy, 29 March 2010
US transfers Cobra helicopters to Pakistan, 17 March 2010
US to offer Pakistan smart bomb kits, drones, 3 March 2010
US expands arms sales to both India and Pakistan, 26 February 2010
China and Pakistan: A formidable partnership in high-tech defense production, 18 December 2009

Drone Kills Leader of Chinese Separatist Movement

Xinjiang Fighter "Killed by Drone", Al Jazeera, 2 March 2010

EXCERPT: "The leader of a Chinese separatist movement, believed to have links with al-Qaeda, has been killed in a US missile strike, Pakistani and Taliban officials have said. Abdul Haq al-Turkistani was apparently killed in an American drone attack in Pakistan's North Waziristan province, close to the border with Afghanistan. He was leader of the Turkistani Islamic Party, which has been designated as a terrorist group by the US government. Al-Turkistani had accused Chinese authorities of committing 'barbaric massacres' of Muslims in China's western Xinjiang region, and has called for attacks on Chinese people. The Chinese foreign ministry said it is aware of al-Turkistani's reported death, but cannot confirm it."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Al-Qaeda-linked Chinese terrorist leader reported killed in US strike in Pakistan [blog], The Long War Journal, 1 March 2010

Related reports:
Has al-Qaeda picked a leader for operations in China?, The Jamestown Foundation // Terrorism Monitor, 3 December 2008
China and the enduring Uighurs, STRATFOR, 6 August 2008

Related posts:
Pakistan's jihadist movements and the challenge to China, 25 February 2010
US-China relations: Seeking strategic convergence in Pakistan, 13 January 2010
Pakistan, China to jointly work on counter-terrorism strategy, 13 November 2010

Pakistan's Jihadist Movements and the Challenge to China

Pakistan, the Radicalization of the Jihadist Movement and the Challenge to China, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, 21 January 2010

EXCERPT: "According to police sources in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan is under the effective control of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). Small groups of Chechens and Uighurs are also present in the area. They work under the over-all command of Qari Tahir and are helped by Maulana Sadiq Noor, a local tribal leader close to the Neo Taliban. On November 17, 2008, Mohammad Uyghuri, speaking from his base in the tribal areas of Pakistan, announced that Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden issued a directive appointing Abdul Haq Turkestani, a resident of Xinjiang, as the organization's leader in China. Uyghuri added that some 300 Chinese Muslims were currently living in the border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and that these Chinese Muslims have training camps in the tribal areas from which they are sent to China to join the armed resistance. A man named Abu Suleiman, who claims to be a member of Al-Qaeda' media team in the region, said that the Islamic militant group in China is called Hizb-e-Islami Turkestan (Turkistan Islamic Party - TIP) and is funded by al-Qaeda. Chinese Muslims in the tribal areas are also publishing a magazine called Al-Turkestan ul Islamia (The Islamic Turkestan)... The TIP was unknown before it emerged in 2008 to make claims of responsibility for various terrorist attacks across China and also issued threats of attacks on the 2008 Beijing Olympics."

Read the full report.

Related articles:
China and India: Strange bedfellows, Foreign Policy, 31 August 2009
China, Pakistan to enhance anti-terrorism cooperation, China Daily, 17 July 2009
China jumping into Pakistan's terrorist game [blog], Registan.net, 16 April 2009

Related reports:
China and the "AfPak" issue, Hoover Institution // China Leadership Monitor via the Human Security Gateway, 15 February 2010
Chinese aid to Pakistan in counter-terrorism: Response to US request?, South Asia Analysis Group, 28 June 2009

Related posts:
US-China relations: Seeking strategic convergence in Pakistan, 13 January 2010
China and Pakistan: A formidable partnership in high-tech defense production, 18 December 2009
Can China deliver in Pakistan?, 3 December 2009
Pakistan, China to jointly work on counter-terrorism strategy, 13 November 2009

Water Challenges a "Crucial" Issue in Central-South Asia

Water Challenges in Central-South Asia, Norwegian Peacebuilding Centre, December 2009

EXCERPT: "Water issues play a crucial role in Central-South Asia, both in the quantity of water available and its quality. Access to clean drinking water is a major, though largely unmet, objective. While much of the region is experiencing water shortages, poor water management lies at the heart of many problems. Climate change — in the form of glacier melt, drought, rising temperatures, and changes to the monsoon cycle — will increasingly exacerbate water scarcity. Although the region’s water challenges do not necessarily or inevitably lead to armed conflict, they increasingly threaten to undermine human security. . . Agriculture offers a livelihood for over 40% of Pakistan’s labour force and accounts for a quarter of GDP. Agriculture is also the dominant water user with 69% of the total, while industries use 23% and households the remaining 8%. . . Extensive irrigation in Pakistan and India places Indus water resources under heavy stress, with about 90% of the basin’s available water flow utilized. . . Population growth and increasing urbanization and industrialization continue to drive up water demand for drinking, irrigation, and hydropower purposes. There are many internal water conflicts between vidual communities or provinces. But transborder issues have also posed vexing problems."

Read the full report.

Related articles:
India spars with Pakistan, China over water, Asia Sentinel, 19 January 2010
Water shortage to cause 40 percent decline in wheat output, The Nation [Pakistan], 19 January 2010
Islamabad to harvest run-off water, DAWN, 19 January 2010
Reduced Himalayan snowfall could spark water war, AlertNet, 18 January 2010
Future scarcity seen sparking local conflicts, not full-scale wars, The New York Times, 23 December 2009
Kashmir's biggest glacier shrinking faster than others, The Gazette, Montreal, 13 October 2009