BEIJING: China has appointed a brand new navy commander in restive Xinjiang the place authorities have locked up greater than one million members of Muslim minorities in what they name a bid to curb terrorism and radicalism.
Lt Gen Wang Haijiang will oversee a large navy presence within the sprawling northwestern area that borders on a number of unstable Central Asian states, together with Pakistan and Afghanistan, from which US troops are withdrawing.
Like Xinjiang’s hardline Communist Occasion chief Chen Quanguo, Wang beforehand served in Tibet, which additionally hosts giant numbers of troops to suppress anti-government sentiment among the many native Tibetan inhabitants and guard the disputed border with India, the place the 2 nations had a lethal conflict final yr.
Wang’s unannounced appointment was revealed on the Xinjiang Army District’s social media feed displaying him presiding at a retirement ceremony for senior officers on Wednesday.
Wang noticed fight throughout a border warfare with Vietnam within the early Nineteen Eighties and served in an elite Folks’s Liberation Military unit, based on state media stories.
The US withdrawal from Afghanistan is a specific concern for Beijing, which fears a resurgence of militant Islam alongside its border.
Chinese language International Minister Wang Yi final week hosted a delegation from the Taliban, which has been making speedy territorial features in Afghanistan and is at present engaged in battles for main cities.
Wang advised the officers that China hopes the Taliban will deal with peace talks and work for unity amongst all factions and ethnic teams.
He additionally stated China hopes the Taliban will “deal resolutely” with the East Turkistan Islamic Motion, a bunch China claims is main a push for independence in Xinjiang.
Unconfirmed stories say a number of hundred fighters allied with the ETIM are current in northeastern Afghanistan, though many specialists doubt the group even exists in any operational kind.
Lt Gen Wang Haijiang will oversee a large navy presence within the sprawling northwestern area that borders on a number of unstable Central Asian states, together with Pakistan and Afghanistan, from which US troops are withdrawing.
Like Xinjiang’s hardline Communist Occasion chief Chen Quanguo, Wang beforehand served in Tibet, which additionally hosts giant numbers of troops to suppress anti-government sentiment among the many native Tibetan inhabitants and guard the disputed border with India, the place the 2 nations had a lethal conflict final yr.
Wang’s unannounced appointment was revealed on the Xinjiang Army District’s social media feed displaying him presiding at a retirement ceremony for senior officers on Wednesday.
Wang noticed fight throughout a border warfare with Vietnam within the early Nineteen Eighties and served in an elite Folks’s Liberation Military unit, based on state media stories.
The US withdrawal from Afghanistan is a specific concern for Beijing, which fears a resurgence of militant Islam alongside its border.
Chinese language International Minister Wang Yi final week hosted a delegation from the Taliban, which has been making speedy territorial features in Afghanistan and is at present engaged in battles for main cities.
Wang advised the officers that China hopes the Taliban will deal with peace talks and work for unity amongst all factions and ethnic teams.
He additionally stated China hopes the Taliban will “deal resolutely” with the East Turkistan Islamic Motion, a bunch China claims is main a push for independence in Xinjiang.
Unconfirmed stories say a number of hundred fighters allied with the ETIM are current in northeastern Afghanistan, though many specialists doubt the group even exists in any operational kind.
