China, neighbours conduct joint military drills

May 7, 2011, 10:52 GMT

Beijing - China and two Central Asian neighbours conducted counterinsurgency drills in the border region of Xinjiang, where Muslim separatists have staged attacks to undermine Beijing rule, state media reported Saturday.

The official Xinhua News Agency said security forces from China, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan conducted the drills on Friday.

The report quoted Meng Hongwei, the deputy minister of public security, as saying the drill demonstrated the resolution and capability of the three countries to combat the 'three evil forces' of terrorism, separatism and extremism in the region.

China has been working to boost security cooperation with its Central Asian neighbours and end a long-running Muslim separatist movement. In 2006, China and Kazakhstan conducted similar drills.

The separatist movement is supported by some Uighurs, an ethnic minority with historical and linguistic ties to the Turkic peoples of Central Asia.

The 'three evil forces' have been colluding with 'East Turkistan' terrorist forces in cross-border activities in recent years, the report said.

Some Islamists call the Xinjiang region East Turkistan.

Uighurs account for about 40 per cent of Xinjiang's population of 20 million. Many resent what they see as cultural and religious repression by the central government.

In July 2009, Uighurs and Han Chinese clashed in Urumqi, the regional capital, in the worst ethnic conflict in the region in decades. Around 200 people died in the violence.

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