China, Pakistan Collaborate on Fighting Xinjiang Separatists
Chinese security officials, led by Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu, visited Islamabad Tuesday to pursue Pakistan's cooperation in seizing Chinese Muslim "extremists" who may be seeking refuge there, reports said.
NHK World News said the visiting Chinese were met by Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who promised to cooperate with his Chinese counterparts.
"China's enemy is Pakistan's enemy, and those Chinese Muslims who violently sought for independence of the ethnically tense Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are Pakistan's enemies," Malik said in a statement.
On July 30, two knife-wielding assailants hijacked a truck from Kashgar's market near the border of Kyrgystan and drove over passers-by, according to Chinese media. Seven people were killed and 28 wounded.
Chinese authorities blamed ethnic Uygur Muslim separatists it said were trained in Pakistan, AFP reported.
To help Pakistan hunt down the Chinese Muslim extremists, China pledged financial and intelligence assistance. The cooperation comes as relations between the U.S. and Pakistan are strained by the Osama bin Laden raid and other incidents.