China has sent an elite anti-terrorism unit to the restive far-western region of Xinjiang in the wake of recent violence there and ahead of an international trade convention, a state newspaper reported yesterday.
The Snow Leopard Commando Unit will be based in Aksu City, about halfway between Kashgar, where two violent attacks took place last month, and Urumqi, the China Daily quoted a spokesman for the Xinjiang People’s Armed Police as saying.
At least 20 people died late last month in the two attacks in Kashgar, in the western part of Xinjiang — turmoil the government blames on Muslim extremists.
The spokesman, whom the newspaper did not name, said the unit would patrol and carry out “anti-terrorist missions” in Kashgar and Hotan, a city in southern Xinjiang where violent protests took place last month.
Calls to the Xinjiang regional government and police offices were not answered yesterday.
The China Daily said the commando unit was also being used to boost security for the China-Eurasia Expo, a large trade convention to be held in Urumqi early next month.
The Snow Leopard unit was formed in 2002 and given security responsibilities for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the newspaper said. It is charged with combating terrorism, controlling riots, disposing of bombs, responding to hijackings and carrying out other special tasks, it said.
Security has been tight across Xinjiang since 2009, when almost 200 people were killed in Urumqi in fighting between majority Han Chinese and the Uighur ethnic group.
China blamed that violence on forces outside the country and says the latest attacks were carried out by militants trained in camps run by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement in Pakistan, which borders the southern part of Xinjiang. However, some experts say the government has produced little evidence of an organized terrorist threat, adding the violence stems more from long-standing local resentment.
Uighurs are culturally, linguistically and religiously distinct from China’s Han ethnic majority and share many links with the native populations of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other parts of Central Asia. Many deeply resent the Han Chinese majority as interlopers and see mass migration to the region as dooming them to minority status in their own homeland.
China defends its treatment of minorities, saying all ethnic groups are treated equally and that tens of billions of dollars in investment and aid have raised their living standards.
Xinjiang is China’s Central Asian frontier, bordering Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia and other countries. Eighty percent of Kashgar’s population of 600,000 is Uighur.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
POLLS CONCERNS: There are concerns within the KMT that a Cheng Li-wun-Xi Jinping meeting could trigger a voter backlash in elections in November Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit next month, her party and Chinese state media reported yesterday. Cheng, who took up her role in November last year, “gladly accepted” the invitation to lead a delegation to China, the KMT said in a statement, confirming a Xinhua news agency report. Cheng “looks forward to joint efforts by both parties to advance the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, promote cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, and work for peace in the Taiwan Strait and greater well-being for people on both sides,” the statement said. Chinese
SIGNIFICANT TO THE WORLD: The delegation’s visit aims to send a clear message that bipartisan support for Taiwan is consistent, US Senator Jeanne Shaheen said The US Senate’s bipartisan support for Taiwan remains strong and Taiwan-US ties would continue for decades to come, a US Senate delegation said in Taipei yesterday, while calling on the legislature to swiftly pass a special defense budget bill. A US delegation led by Democratic US Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican US Senator John Curtis — both members of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations — arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a two-day visit. The other senators of the delegation included Senate Taiwan Caucus cochair Thom Tillis and Senate Committee on Armed Services senior member Jacky Rosen. Shaheen told a news
RSS