COUNTERTERRORISM: PRC ADOPTING PRAGMATIC APPROACH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 007037

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NOFORN
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2032
TAGS: PTER PREL CASC PGOV CH PK XA IZ AF UN
SUBJECT: COUNTERTERRORISM: PRC ADOPTING PRAGMATIC APPROACH
TO INCREASING THREATS ABROAD

REF: A. 1) OSC SAP20070822099032

B. 2) OSC CPP20070714714001

C. 3) BEIJING 5496

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Dan Piccuta for Reasons 1.4 (b/d
).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) PRC citizens have increasingly been victims of
violence overseas in recent years, including murders and
kidnappings in Africa and attacks in Afghanistan and
Pakistan. Despite evidence that some of these incidents
specifically targeted Chinese and clear signs that the PRC is
experimenting with various approaches to cope with these new
threats, Chinese interlocutors stressed that China's
counterterrorism policy remains fundamentally unchanged.
Chinese and third-country contacts were quick to acknowledge
that acts of violence against Chinese abroad are on the rise,
attributing the incidents to China's growing presence in the
world. Most speculated that the attacks on Chinese in
Pakistan were calculated more to embarrass the Pakistani
Government than to target China. In response to these
incidents, China has worked to ensure the security of Chinese
engineers and workers abroad and has asked host countries to
step up protection of Chinese citizens. The creation of the
External Security Affairs Department within the MFA, the
posting of People's Armed Police detachments in Iraq and
Afghanistan and the establishment of the Consular Protection
Center are concrete examples of China's new security mindset.
End Summary.

Attacks on Chinese Abroad Analyzed
--------------


2. (C) 2007 has been a particularly bloody year for PRC
citizens overseas. In April, nine Chinese were killed at an
oil facility in Ethiopia, and three more were murdered near
Peshawar, Pakistan, in July. Just weeks later, PRC engineers
narrowly avoided a targeted suicide attack on their vehicle
convoy near Hub, Pakistan. 29 Pakistanis were killed.
Chinese workers were victims of kidnapping from the Niger
Delta to the Horn of Africa to Pakistan.


3. (C) In a series of meetings with us on the subject, our
Chinese and third-country contacts were quick to acknowledge
that acts of violence against Chinese abroad are on the rise.
On August 24, MFA Central Asian Affairs Department Second
Secretary Mao Wenchong told Poloff there is "no doubt" that

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there have been increased attacks on Chinese abroad. MFA
International Organizations and Conferences Department Third
Secretary Song Jia on August 23 attributed these incidents to

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China's cooperation internationally and its growing presence
in the world, but stressed that not all of the attacks were
"terrorism." Mao explained that these incidents are
precipitated by nationalism, ethnicity, poverty and religion.



4. (C) First Secretary Yang Qingdong, one of five officials
focusing on counterterrorism in the MFA's External Security
Affairs Department, told us on September 4 that more PRC
citizens are going abroad as China develops, and the
Government now has to consider terrorist threats.
"Counterterrorism is a new issue for China," Yang explained.
Chinese officialswe spoke with had not formed a set
definition of terrorism, however. MFA's Mao defined
terrorist groups as "dangerous extremist organizations that
seek to split the country." Yang, however, considered
terrorism to be "acts of violence against innocents with or
without political goals."

Violence in Pakistan Directed at PRC Citizens
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5. (C) In Pakistan, where many of the recent attacks on
Chinese citizens took place, China recognizes that there are
"special conditions," according to First Secretary Yang. The
attacks there were not conducted to target Chinese, but to

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express opposition to specific enterprises and development
projects and to pressure the local government. Another
country in China's place implementing the same projects would
face the same threats, he said.


6. (C) Pakistani Embassy Counselor Shafqat Ali Khan echoed
Yang's view on August 28, saying v&%%-'Q{LY) zW%Qof Pakistan and, in
the case of the incidents in Pakistan's Balochistan Province,
also at preventing foreign investment. Such attacks are a
concerted effort to stifle economic growth in Pakistan, Khan
emphasized. Chinese are targeted todemonstrate the area's
complete instability. If not even the Chinese--who have a
reputation for working in unstable parts of the world--are
there, "who could be?" he asked rhetorically. Khan said more
attacks are to be expected as China's footprint increases.
Khan told Poloff he would not rule out the possibility that
Al Qaeda attacked Chinese in Pakistan in retribution for PRC
treatment of western ChinQN)3eQer this was the most
likely scenario.

7. (C//NF) Nonetheless, Pakistan media have cited government
officials attributing attacks on Chinese in the country to
Islamist groups acting on behalf of Uighur militants (Ref A).
Media sources, British Embassy First Secretary Martin Duffy
and MFA's Song Jia all claimed there are Uighur militants in
the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA),though
Consulate Peshawar notes it has no concrete information on a
substantial Uighur presence there. Pakistan Embassy
Counselor Khan, a native of Gilgit in Pakistan's north, said
most of the "bad guys" cross along the China-Afghanistan and
China-Kazak Q!{QvW five months of the year. The MFA's
Song acknowledged the "assistance" of the Afghan and
Pakistani governments in combating "Uighur terrorists" hiding
in the FATA, and Khan highlighted broad Sino-Pakistani
counterterrorism coordination.


8. (C//NF) British Embassy First Secretary Martin Duffy told
us September 4 that China underemphasizes the threat posed by
the Al Qaeda network, focusing instead on "domestic
terrorism." While China directs its efforts against
"splittism" and Falun Gong, the East Turkestan Islamic
Movement is training in the FATA. Duffy said he did not know
whether trained Uighur militants would return to foment
domestic unrest in ChinaPV"10`2Q