China has maintained a low profile regarding the Afghan crisis after the terrorist attack on September 11. It is being cautious and has adopted a pragmatic attitude towards the crisis. This cautiousness is informed by its policy towards the Afghan mujahideens in the 1980s, which is similar to that of the US. The US, which equipped and funded the mujahideen to fight the Soviet Army in Afghanistan, has now turned against them and wants them to deliver Osama bin Laden “dead or alive”. However, what the world little knows is that China had also provided moral and diplomatic support to the mujahideen and now equally feels threatened by their jehadi activities in Xinjiang.
China’s Xinjiang problem resembles the initial stages of the Kashmir problem in India. China regards the minority province of Xinjiang as an integral part of China and is opposed to separatist movements. Xinjiang’s geographical location is contiguous to the borders of eight countries and provides a corridor to the Central Asian region. Its economic importance is derived from its possession of oil reserves and other minerals; its security importance is due to its million Muslim population, deeply influenced by nine hundred years of Islamic influence. In fact, the demise of the former USSR and the establishment of independent Central Asian states have stirred an awakening among the Muslims of Xinjiang about their pan-Islamic identity. This was fuelled by the growth of radical Islamic militancy with its terrorist networks outside China, which is viewed as designed to cause tensions between the Han Chinese and Xinjiang minorities. The Islamic movement fuelled by the Taliban has caused friction between China and Pakistan, China’s long-term ally that supports the Taliban.
But China has not turned against the Taliban like the US. Its astute diplomacy lies in its carrot and stick policy towards the Taliban. On the one hand, China dangles the prospect of providing Afghanistan with infrastructure and economic development assistance. This led China to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Taliban on 11 September 2001. On the other hand, China used the Shanghai Five (now Six) to address terrorism in Xinjiang. At the Shanghai Group summit in Dushanbe in June 2001, the main thrust was on cross-border terrorism, specifically from Afghanistan. The leaders agreed to create a joint anti-terrorist center in Bishkek in Kyrghystan. China draws a parallel between Russia’s Chechnya and its Xinjiang province and has called for containing “separatism, terrorism and extremism” to prevent its spread into Central Asia and Xinjiang. Yesterday’s jehadis are terrorists now and the Chinese have warned the Taliban against providing sanctuary and support to the Uygur militants. In the recent APEC meeting in Shanghai, China warned that there should not be “double standards” in dealing with international terrorism. China meant that, if the US regarded its war on Afghanistan as a step to root out terrorism, then it should also treat the problem in Xinjiang as terrorism. China aims at building a coalition of states in favour of combating cross-border terrorism. It is also attempting to project the Xinjiang problem as one of terrorism to gain world support for crushing it.
But China does not talk directly about crushing the Taliban. It accepts the Taliban as a “reality” that has to be “moderated” and “contained”. It denounced a military solution to the Afghan problem and called for UN intervention, instead of a US role to counter terrorism. China is thus opposed to US hegemony. However, China has not gone against the international coalition in the US war on the Taliban, since it serves China’s interest if the Taliban forces are defeated in Afghanistan. But if they remain undefeated, it will not pose a security problem to China in the same way as the US, India or Israel.
China has effectively shielded itself from the Taliban’s enmity by calling for solving the Afghan crisis through UN intervention and bringing about an early end to bombing in Afghanistan. It has expressed concern over the rising civilian casualties. By signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Taliban, China has retained the option of accommodating the Taliban in its foreign policy. China stands for a peaceful solution to the Afghan crisis to establish peace in Afghanistan and to contain the separatist movements in its Xinjiang province. By adopting the posture of a peaceful country aiding the Taliban economically, China shields itself from Islamic radical militancy through Afghanistan but precludes the Xinjiang Muslims from viewing the military action against the Taliban as being directed their Islamic faith. Thus, China has achieved its purpose by maintaining a low profile in the Afghan crisis.
