COUNTERTERRORISM: PRC ADOPTING PRAGMATIC APPROACH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 007037 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS 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 SIPDIS 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 SIPDIS 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 -------------- ¶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 BEIJING 00007037 002 OF 003 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