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Beijing (AP) —China has appointed a new military commander in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Authorities have detained more than one million members of the Islamic minority to curb terrorism and radicalism.
Vice Admiral Wang Haigang will oversee a large military presence in the vast northwestern region bordering several volatile Central Asian countries, along with Pakistan and Afghanistan, where US troops have withdrawn.
Like Chen Quanguo, the leader of the hardline Communist Party in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the king previously served in Tibet. Tibet has also embraced a large number of troops to curb indigenous Tibetan anti-government sentiment and defend the conflict border with India, where the two countries last had a fatal clash. Year.
The unannounced appointment of the king was revealed in a social media feed in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, showing that he is presiding over the retirement ceremony for senior officers on Wednesday.
According to state media reports, the king saw a battle during the border war with Vietnam in the early 1980s and served an elite PLA unit.
The US withdrawal from Afghanistan is of particular concern to Beijing, which fears the resurgence of extremist Islam along the border.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted a delegation from the Taliban last week, which experienced rapid territorial expansion in Afghanistan and is currently engaged in a battle over major cities.
The king told officials that China wants the Taliban to focus on peace talks and work for unity between all factions and ethnic groups.
He also said China wants the Taliban to “resolutely deal” with the Turkistan Islamic movement. The group claimed by China is leading the promotion of independence in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Hundreds of fighters allied with ETIM exist in northeastern Afghanistan, according to unconfirmed reports, but many experts suspect that the group exists in any form of operation.
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