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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Snowshoe who wrote (2172)	10/2/2001 2:45:42 AM
From: Snowshoe	Respond to of 281500

China Shielded From Afghan Troubles dailynews.yahoo.com By JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press Writer Friday September 28 2:12 PM ET ON THE CHINA-PAKISTAN BORDER (AP) - High in the teeth of snowcapped peaks, where camels graze in alpine pastures, young soldiers with sun-chapped faces and guns at the ready are trying to keep Afghanistan's radical Islam out of China. Amid threats of U.S. military action, China has tightened border security in its western Muslim region of Xinjiang, which touches both Pakistan and Afghanistan and is the site of China's own simmering Muslim separatist problems. Soldiers who Pakistani traders say once let border traffic pass freely now stop and carefully search the buses, trucks and vans that groan over the Khunjerab Pass. The crossing lies at 16,282 feet in the Karakoram mountains, where Pakistan and Xinjiang meet. The soldiers question travelers and scrutinize documents. The apparent aim: to keep out the influence of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban and their guest, Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born suspect in the destruction of the World Trade Center. ``The Taliban may be fierce, but we are brave,'' said Li Junjun, a 21-year-old border guard who looked teddy-bearish in his military-issue fur hat and baggy camouflage overalls. ``You've nothing to fear in China. The People's Liberation Army will protect you.'' Chinese leaders in Beijing, 2,100 miles to the east, worry about instability and Afghan refugees fleeing possible U.S. attacks. They fear that could add to unrest among Chinese Muslims. Xinjiang, Chinese for ``New Frontier,'' is a rugged land of vast deserts and towering mountains. Its lush oases once supported camel trains that traveled the legendary Silk Road. For years, separatists from Xinjiang's largest ethnic group - the Turkic-speaking Uighurs - have waged a low-intensity campaign of bombings, armed attacks and assassinations. The separatists are few and disorganized. Chinese officials say most Uighurs oppose them. But they draw support from Uighurs abroad and in Xinjiang who resent heavy-handed Chinese rule and an influx of settlers from the country's dominant Han ethnic group. Some separatists have received military training in Afghanistan. They reportedly fought alongside the Taliban, Afghanistan's ruling Islamic movement, and with extremists in Central Asia and rebels in the Russian region of Chechnya. The route into China from Pakistan is the Karakoram Highway through the towering Karakoram and Pamir ranges. The mountains are a daunting barrier to attempts to cross into China, and soon snow will make passes inaccessible. Chinese border officials say they haven't seen any refugees and, because of the inhospitable conditions, don't expect any. Beijing dismisses Pakistani news reports that bin Laden is hiding in China. Nevertheless, officials are taking no chances. The Khunjerab Pass was closed for one day after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in New York and Washington that killed thousands. Guards said they will shut the border again if the United States launches its expected retaliation against Afghanistan for harboring bin Laden. China has stationed extra troops in Tashkorgan, the last town before the Pakistan border and 40 miles from the frontier with Afghanistan. China does not recognize Afghanistan's Taliban government, and officials say that border is always sealed. In a walled enclosure beside Tashkorgan's military barracks, troops have pitched tents and hidden trucks under camouflage netting. The crisp morning air echoes with the shouts and songs of soldiers drilling. ``Protect stability, oppose separatism,'' declares a banner strung across the entrance of a compound for the paramilitary People's Armed Police. At the pass, Chinese soldiers open the border gate only after they have checked passengers and cargo. The security adds to two Chinese checkpoints that already were operating regularly on the road to the border from Tashkorgan. The soldiers posed for photos with sightseers and travelers. They chatted about the rigors of guarding a post where the air is thin and winter temperatures fall to minus 40. But they don't drop their guard. ``Are you Taliban?'' they demanded of three breathless Pakistani hikers. ``No, no,'' came the hasty reply. ``There's no way bin Laden will make it through here. We won't let him,'' one soldier said. Another added: ``We've got men all over these mountains.'' Sost, the ramshackle Pakistani town on the other side of the border, echoes with complaints that tourism and trade are sharply down. Hoteliers and store owners say far fewer tourists are braving the Karakoram Highway's rugged beauty. The stream of trucks that ferry goods across the border has shrunk to a trickle. ``I generally have 30 to 40 people on the bus. Today I had 11,'' said Wu Xinjian, who once a week drives the 300-mile round trip between Kashgar, a city near China's western border, and Sost. ``It's because there's going to be a war. People are scared.''