China Torn Between U.S. Support, Own Security Fears

by Antoaneta Bezlova

Should Beijing decide to join Washington in its new war on international terrorism, China risks annoying some of its long-time allies in Asia that are suspected of harboring terrorists or being "rogue states" themselves.

But if Chinese leaders shun the U.S.-led effort to combat terrorism, China will find itself isolated from the international community at large.

In a reflection of Beijing's awkward position, just a week after the terrorist attacks on the United States, Chinese state-controlled media dropped coverage of the American tragedy that has been preoccupying nations all over the world.

Instead, China's leading newspaper, the People's Daily, devoted lengthy coverage to the 70th anniversary of the Japanese imperial army's invasion of China and condemned all military intervention.

The tone of the People's Daily coverage appeared to mirror China's conflicted official thinking about the implications of a global anti-terrorism campaign directed by the United States, which could result in military intervention in Afghanistan or other countries.

The Taliban-ruled Afghanistan has provided sanctuary to Osama bin Laden, who is suspected of having masterminded a number of anti-U.S. terrorist attacks in recent years. Pakistan, China's long-time ally in Asia, is a key supporter of the Taliban regime.

Back in the early decades of communist rule, China provided logistic and moral support to a number of radical guerrilla movements in Asia.

Even today, U.S. intelligence agencies allege that Beijing is selling missile and nuclear technology to Iran, Iraq and Pakistan, and to other countries Washington suspects to be sponsors of terrorism.

While Beijing is anxious to be seen as backing common efforts of the international community, the Chinese leadership loathes being identified with the foreign policy of the United States -- which it often refers as one of "hegemonism."

China is a strong supporter of the concept of national sovereignty and is vehemently opposed to foreign intervention in its own or other countries' internal affairs.

The perception that the terrorist attacks were horrid but understandable because of aggressive U.S. foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East, is held by many ordinary Chinese people. Some American and foreign experts also trace the roots of the attacks to U.S. policy in that region over past decades.

Qiao Liang, military strategist at the Chinese air force headquarters, believes the attacks against the United States were an understandable response to American hegemony.

"Many innocent people became victims of American policy after the Cold War," he argued.

Yet whatever its qualms about a military response to the attacks, this time China clearly wants to find some common ground with the international community.

In a telephone conversation with President George W. Bush on the night after the attacks, President Jiang Zemin was quick to offer China's help in the war on terrorism. He spoke of terrorism as "a challenge to all people who cherish peace."

He told Bush: "China is ready to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with the United States and the international community in combatting all manner of terrorist violence," the state news agency Xinhua reported.

Although the report gave no details of what role China could play in a U.S.-led war against terrorism, a senior Chinese official said this weekend that Beijing was ready to provide not only moral but practical support.

"It depends on what requests we get from the United States," Zhao Qizheng, the director of the State Council Information Office and a member of the Communist Party Central Committee, told media in Berlin.

He said Beijing's support might come in the form of action by the Shanghai Six, a regional security organization formed by China and Russia and four Central Asian states -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Although the Shanghai Six's main purpose is to help its members fight militant Islamic organizations, the security alliance was forged as a political counterweight to the United States.

But obviously, this time Beijing has decided that its opposition to terrorism outweighs its opposition to American policies.

Two days after the attacks on America, the Shanghai Six signed a declaration in Almaty, capital of Kazakhstan, saying "international terrorism has turned into a serious threat to humanity."

"The Shanghai Six have taken a very clear position to fight terrorism together," said Zhao.

"These challenges come from many different directions, but no matter where they come from, the Shanghai Six countries have signed a declaration to combat terrorism, and that is a sign that they all feel threatened," he added.

As much as Beijing fears foreign intervention in its own troubled regions of Xinjiang and Tibet, it dreads even more the impact of Islamic fundamentalists on the separatist movement in its northwestern region of Xinjiang.

There in the past, Muslim radicals from the Uighur ethnic minority have carried out bomb attacks and murdered government officials.