China has denied that its forces were conducting vehicular patrols in Afghanistan, despite active military cooperation with Kabul, as part of a quadrilateral mechanism established earlier this year.
Asked to comment on a report that appeared on the website of an Indian media outlet allegedly showing Chinese security forces patrolling Afghanistan’s far northeastern Little Pamir region, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun on Wednesday said: “I have also noticed the report you mentioned. Actually, the report by some foreign media about Chinese military vehicles entering the territory of Afghanistan for patrol is inconsistent with the fact.”
Reuters also quoted a denial by an Afghan official of the media report. Col.Yang, however acknowledged that China and Afghanistan “have been discussing on conducting joint law enforcement activities, preventing and combating terrorist activities and organised cross-border crimes along the China-Afghanistan border”.
Earlier, in an interview with The Hindu, Hu Shisheng, Director of the Institute of South and Southeast Asian and Oceanian Studies at the Beijing based China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, expressed doubts about the deployment of Chinese troops in Afghanistan. “We have already started with the training [in Afghanistan]. As for weapons supply, that has also begun. As for sending what the westerners call military advisors, the special envoys that have been appointed can more or less share that kind of role. But regarding sending troops — I am not so sure of that — as it would mark a dramatic shift from our past policies.”
Along with Pakistan and Tajikistan, China and Afghanistan are part of a quadrilateral military mechanism to counter terrorism, which could radiate and destabilise key areas of Central Asia — a core component of the China-led One Belt One Road (OBOR) connectivity initiative.
Col. Yang highlighted that mid-ranking military officers of the four countries had been part of a five-day symposium on counterterrorism, which ended on November 27 at the Special Operations College of the People's Liberation Army in Beijing. He acknowledged that the event had been held as part of the quadrilateral counter-terrorism mechanism established in August in response to the threat of terrorism and extremism.
The participants later visited Kashgar — the terminus of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which starts from Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. “The delegates also went to Kashgar, a city located in the southwestern part of the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region to watch the region's special forces conduct counter-terrorism combat training on Monday,” Col. Yang observed. India opposes the CPEC as it passes through Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Dr. Hu explained that the “quadrilateral mechanism” had been established because “we found that those in Xinjiang who seek independence and who even want to go outside to join the battlefield with ISIS and other terrorists, choose this route between China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and even Pakistan to the training grounds in West Asia.”
“We want to plug this flow between Xinjiang and Tajikistan and Tajikistan and Afghanistan.”
The Defence Ministry spokesman also did not confirm Pakistani media reports that China would deploy its naval ships in Gwadar in coordination with Pakistan. In response to a question, he said that the “ two navies have also maintained friendly exchanges and cooperation in such fields as port calls of naval ships and replenishment at ports, etc.”
When contacted, Liu Zongyi of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies told The Hindu that the “Gwadar port is a business port”. He added: “I do not think China will establish a naval base at Gwadar.”
