China flexes muscle in anti-terror operations

Soldiers participate in a parade during the opening ceremony of a joint anti-terrorism military exercise by forces of several member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, in Ucharal, a border city in the east of Kazakhstan, on Wednesday. PHOTO: AP

China yesterday to stamp out separatism and extremism as it flexed its military muscle in its largest ever joint anti-terrorism operations.

Members the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) that groups China and five former Soviet republics in Central Asia began joint military exercises in Kazakhstan Wednesday aimed at averting terrorist strikes from land and air.

The drill is also seen as China's bid to counterbalance the growing US military presence in the strategic and resource-rich Central Asia region.

Lieutenant-General Li Qianyuan, head of the Chinese military delegation and commander of the Lanzhou Military Command, said the show of strength would help guarantee security and stability in the region.

"The military exercise ... showed that the SCO member states take the same stand and hold the same determination to fight terrorism, separatism and extremism," Li was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency.

"It is an important step for the SCO states to step up military cooperation and mutual trust among their armed forces, and boost regional cooperation against terrorism.

"The Chinese government stands firmly against terrorism of all kinds, calls for closer international cooperation and removing the roots of terrorism," Li said.

During the first stage of "Cooperation 2003," more than 1,000 soldiers from Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan launched a mock battle to rescue air passengers held by a gang of international terrorists.

In the second stage on Aug. 11 and Aug. 12, Chinese forces will practice hostage-release techniques and the destruction of a terrorist base in its Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

China several hundreds of kilometers of border with Kyrgyzstan in its western region of Xinjiang, whose Muslim separatist movement has been a constant worry for Beijing.

China the East Turkestan Islamic Movement is directly backed by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network and Washington last year branded it a terrorist organization.

Kyrgyzstan, meanwhile, was shaken in 1999 and 2000 when rebels from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) carried out an incursion across the ex-Soviet republic's border with Tajikistan.

The IMU has also been branded a terrorist organization with links to al-Qaeda.

The Shanghai group comprises Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia and China and was formed in 2001 in an effort to overcome lingering suspicions between Beijing and its ex-Soviet neighbors.

The drills are the first of their kind within the framework of the SCO, and the first time China's People's Liberation Army (PLA), the world's biggest army, has taken part in such a large scale joint anti-terror exercise, China's Ministry of National Defense said.

"The exercise will promote understanding, friendship, cooperation and development between the PLA and military forces of other member countries," said a ministry official, Xinhua reported.

Cash-strapped Tajikistan has an observation role in the current round of exercises but there was no mention of Uzbekistan, which maintains frosty relations with its neighbors.