{"id":235048,"date":"2021-10-13T20:44:25","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T03:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=235048"},"modified":"2021-11-17T14:27:50","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T22:27:50","slug":"afghan-uyghurs-caught-between-taliban-and-chinas-transnational-repression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2021\/10\/afghan-uyghurs-caught-between-taliban-and-chinas-transnational-repression\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghan Uyghurs Caught Between Taliban and China\u2019s Transnational Repression"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August was <\/span>never an ideal scenario for the Chinese government<\/span><\/a>, and it was even worse for Afghanistan\u2019s Uyghur minority. In the security vacuum left by the U.S. withdrawal, China is now forced to rely on an Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organization to maintain stability in a failing state rife with numerous other Islamic fundamentalist terrorist groups, while <\/span>attempting to prevent any spillover of violence into Xinjiang<\/span><\/a>. For the several thousand ethnic Uyghurs living in Afghanistan, the Taliban victory poses an existential threat. Not only do the two groups have <\/span>opposing political beliefs<\/span><\/a>, but the Taliban is also under <\/span>increasing Chinese pressure to deport Uyghurs<\/span><\/a>\u2014militants and civilians alike\u2014to China.<\/span><\/p>\n

The stakes were raised on October 8 when ISIS-K, a Sunni fundamentalist terrorist group, <\/span>detonated a suicide bomb in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz<\/span><\/a>, killing scores and wounding over a hundred worshippers at a mosque during Friday prayer hours, marking Afghanistan\u2019s deadliest terrorist attack in months. For the first time ever, the terrorist group publicly stated that <\/span>the attack was conducted by a Uyghur militant<\/span><\/a> in retribution for the Taliban\u2019s promises to Beijing to expel Uyghurs from Afghanistan. Laura Zhou at the South China Morning Post described how <\/span>the attack\u2019s connection to a Uyghur militant signals a serious threat to Beijing<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the Isis-K claim has not been verified, it is the first time the group has linked a bomber to an ethnic group in China.<\/span><\/p>\n

Raffaello Pantucci, a senior fellow with S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said that if the claim were true, it could deepen Beijing\u2019s concerns about Afghanistan becoming a base for Uygur fighters seeking independence for Xinjiang.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf [Isis-K] have individuals who are Uygurs, who are fighting alongside them and willing to be suicide bombers, then the Chinese have got a problem here because this means you now have an organisation there that has a link to China that is angry enough to send people who are suicide bombers to attack them,\u201d Pantucci said. [<\/span>Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The specter of Uyghur militants in Afghanistan is a policy nightmare for the Chinese government. A June 2021 United Nations report stated that, in the months leading up to the U.S. withdrawal, <\/span>eight to ten thousand jihadist fighters poured into Afghanistan<\/span><\/a> from central Asian regions, including Xinjiang; most of the fighters were associated with the Taliban or Al Qaeda, and some with ISIS. A July 2021 United Nations Security Council report stated that <\/span>several hundred Uyghur militants reside in Afghanistan<\/span><\/a>. Many are part of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), also known as the Turkistan Islamic Party. The <\/span>U.S. removed ETIM from its list of terrorist organizations<\/span><\/a> in 2020, believing it to be no longer active, but ETIM remains on the U.N. list of terrorist organizations. <\/span>Sean Roberts, associate professor of international affairs at George Washington University\u2019s Elliott School of International Affairs, <\/span>explained that China \u201cportrays ETIM as part of the <\/span>supposed Uighur terrorist threat that justifies its brutal crackdown in Xinjiang<\/span><\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To assuage Beijing\u2019s fears, <\/span>the Taliban had reportedly begun removing Uyghur militants from the Chinese border<\/span><\/a>, even before the recent ISIS-K terrorist attack. When the Taliban was previously in power from 1996 to 2001, it <\/span>moved and monitored Uyghurs at China\u2019s request<\/span><\/a>. This latest development signals <\/span>continued cooperation between the Taliban and the Chinese government<\/span><\/a> in dealing with Afghanistan\u2019s Uyghur population.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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In an apparent effort to assuage Beijing\u2019s concerns, the Taliban removed Uyghur militants from Badakhshan, which connects Afghanistan to Xinjiang through the Wakhan Corridor.https:\/\/t.co\/hNQaxsi1Ao<\/a> via @GandharaRFE<\/a><\/p>\n

— Abubakar Siddique (@sid_abu) October 11, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n