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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 005898 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/08/2022 
TAGS: PTER OREP SNAR PREL PRGOV TI PK KG AF CH
SUBJECT: XINJIANG POLICE: ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM THREATENS 
CHINA'S WEST 
 
REF: BEIJING 00188 
 
BEIJING 00005898  001.6 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Aubrey Carlson. 
Reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) Representatives Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Mark 
Kirk (R-IL) visited Urumqi, Kashi and China's border 
with Kyrgyzstan during an August 29-31 trip to the 
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.  Public Security 
Bureau officials simultaneously touted the success of 
anti-terrorism efforts in Xinjiang while claiming that 
Uighur terror groups are still training recruits and 
building links overseas.  Xinjiang officials said 
Chinese public security forces are enjoying a higher 
level of cooperation from the Uighur community, a 
reflection of greater economic prosperity and 
increasing distaste for violent extremism among 
Xinjiang Muslims.  In addition to terrorism, Xinjiang 
PSB officials said they face growing smuggling of 
Southwest Asian heroin via the border with Pakistan. 
At the border, customs officials indicated that the 
interdiction of guns and explosives remains the top 
priority.  End summary. 
 
PSB Exhibit on Uighur Terror/Separatist Groups 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2. (SBU) Representatives Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Mark 
Kirk 
(R-IL), accompanied by Poloff and DEA Attache, visited 
the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau (PSB) headquarters 
in Urumqi August 29.  The trip was sponsored by the 
National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.  At the 
start of the visit, PSB officials showed 
Representatives Larsen and Kirk an exhibit presenting 
the PRC view of the history of Xinjiang 
terrorist/separatist movements.  The exhibit focused 
on a series of violent attacks, demonstrations and 
assassinations carried out by Uighur groups from 1990 
to 1997.  At the end of the tour, Xinjiang PSB 
officers showed the delegation a room full of 
confiscated literature and weapons.  The weapons 
displayed included handguns, homemade rifles, homemade 
grenades, crossbows and improvised explosives. 
Officers giving the tour said most of the weapons 
confiscated in Xinjiang come from Russia, though some 
exported Chinese land mines and other weapons have 
been smuggled into Xinjiang from third countries. 
 
Uighur Terror Groups Still Active 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Following the exhibit, the Vice Director 
General of the Xinjiang PSB, Hashim Aji (Chinese name: 
Aximu Aji), said that despite a lack of violent 
incidents in Xinjiang since 2000, Uighur terror groups 
are still active and have numerous links to extremist 
organizations abroad.  Aji said Uighur terrorists 
continue to receive training in Afghanistan and 
Chechnya and have ties to extremists in Kashmir.  Aji 
said the detention of 20 (sic) Uighurs in Guantanamo 
Bay demonstrates that Uighur separatists are a part of 
the international terrorist movement.  To bolster his 
case that Uighur terrorists remain a present threat, 
Aji described in detail a January 5, 2007 raid by 
Xinjiang police on an alleged terrorist training camp 
(reftel).  One police officer and 17 terrorists were 
killed in the raid, which took place in an area close 
to the Tajikistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan borders. 
Aji said the camp was connected to the East Turkistan 
Liberation Organization (ETLO).  The PSB reportedly 
learned of the camp thanks to an informant.  The ETLO 
members present at the camp were planning to carry out 
bus bombings and attacks on bridges, according to Aji. 
 
¶4. (C) (NOTE: Aji's claim of ETLO involvement 
contradicts January statements from both the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs and Xinjiang PSB that stated the 
camp was operated by the East Turkistan Islamic 
 
BEIJING 00005898  002.4 OF 003 
 
 
Movement (ETIM), not ETLO.  In Chinese, Aji frequently 
used the term "dong tu," a more vague term that could 
denote any East Turkistan organization.  The 
interpreter, however, used the term ETLO.) 
 
ETLO, Uighur Youth Congress Deserve Designation 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶5. (C) Aji said he was happy the United Nations 
designated ETIM a terror group in 2002, but he argued 
that other Uighur organizations, such as ETLO and the 
World Uighur Youth Congress, also deserve official 
designation as terrorist organizations. 
Representative Kirk urged Aji to provide more specific 
information regarding recent activity by suspected 
Uighur terrorists.  Only with better and more recent 
information, Rep. Kirk said, could the United States 
support additional designations.  When asked about the 
activities of Uighur groups in neighboring countries, 
Aji said he is still concerned with training 
activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  The Xinjiang 
PSB is also concerned Uighur terror groups are 
targeting Chinese businesspeople in Pakistan.  Aji 
positively described counterterrorism cooperation with 
neighboring countries.  When asked about the presence 
of direct, cross-border communications channels 
between the Xinjiang PSB and neighboring police 
forces, Aji said all cooperation was conducted through 
Interpol. 
 
Golden Crescent Heroin Entering Xinjiang 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Jin Peng, head of the counternarcotics division 
of the Xinjiang PSB, told Representatives Larsen and 
Kirk that heroin entering from Afghanistan and 
Pakistan is a growing problem.  Previously, most of 
the heroin consumed in Xinjiang, as in the rest of 
China, came from the Burma/Golden Triangle region. 
Xinjiang police seized just 8.2 kilograms of Southwest 
Asian heroin between 1991 and 2004.  Since 2005, Jin 
said, Xinjiang police and border authorities are 
increasingly interdicting Southwest Asian heroin, 
which accounted for 67 of the 123 kilograms seized in 
Xinjiang in 2006.  Jin acknowledged these seizures are 
just the "tip of the iceberg" with respect to the 
actual amount entering Xinjiang.  While most of the 
heroin entering Xinjiang is destined for China's 
coastal regions, local consumption is on the rise. 
Jin said Xinjiang has an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 
heroin users out of a total population of 20 million. 
Jin said drug smuggling primarily involves third- 
country nationals, particularly Africans.  The 
extensive use of these "mules," Jin said, means the 
Xinjiang PSB is often unable to prosecute the 
ringleaders of these smuggling organizations.  While 
not offering specifics, Aji commented that Xinjiang 
authorities are worried drug money, along with 
donations from overseas Uighurs, is helping to fund 
terror/separatist groups. 
 
Lunch with Xinjiang People's Congress Chairman 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶7. (SBU) Over lunch, Xinjiang People's Congress 
Chairman Abdurehim Amet told the delegation that 
Central Government budget subsidies and support for 
Xinjiang's economic development was winning hearts and 
minds, and ordinary citizens are increasingly willing 
to cooperate with authorities to prevent terrorism. 
Asked about Uighur attitudes toward the migration of 
Han Chinese into Xinjiang, Amet claimed most of the 
Han arriving are skilled workers who help boost the 
economy.  Amet criticized exiled Uighur activist 
Rebiya Kadeer, describing her as a "criminal" who most 
Uighurs condemn. 
 
Kashi PSB on Explosives, Drug Interdiction 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶8. (C) In Kashi (Kashgar), Representatives Larsen and 
Kirk met PSB Deputy Director Yan Weiguo.  Echoing 
 
BEIJING 00005898  003.4 OF 003 
 
 
Abdurehim Amet's comments, Yan attributed the lack of 
violent terror attacks since 2000 to the increasing 
willingness of the Uighur community to report illegal 
activity.  The Kashi area is experiencing 12 percent 
annual GDP growth, Yan said, which is increasing 
support for the government.  That Xinjiang had not 
experienced any recent car bombings reflects the PSB's 
success at controlling explosives.  Yan said the PSB 
had recently uncovered a case of would-be terrorists 
attempting to acquire explosive material used by oil 
companies. 
 
¶9. (C) Regarding anti-narcotics efforts, Yan said in 
2006 Kashi police arrested 17 drug smugglers and 
seized 38 kilograms of heroin.  These cases involved 
individuals from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and 
Lesotho smuggling heroin to Xinjiang from Pakistan and 
then on to coastal cities, particularly Guangzhou. 
Yan said Chinese police arrested one third-country 
national who had made three drug runs within 20 days, 
each time traveling from Central Asia to Kashi and 
then to Guangzhou. 
 
Trip to the Kyrgyzstan Border 
----------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Representatives Larsen and Kirk visited the 
Tuergate (Turugart) border crossing near Kashi August 
30, which is guarded by a People's Liberation Army 
detachment.  Poloff observed about 15 soldiers (all 
Han Chinese) both at the border itself and at a 
barracks approximately one mile downhill from the 
crossing.  A PLA officer told Poloff that soldiers 
typically are assigned to one-month shifts at the 
crossing and are rotated between other border stations 
and posts further inland.  Trucks and buses cross the 
border from Kyrgyzstan into China, undergo an initial 
document inspection at the PLA garrison and then 
proceed by gravel road approximately 130 kilometers 
into China to an immigration and customs inspections 
station.  During a one-hour stay at the border, Poloff 
observed 20 large trucks (half with Chinese plates, 
half with Kyrgyzstan plates) and one Bishkek-Kashi 
passenger bus crossing from the Kyrgyz side.  (Note: 
Normal traffic had been restricted to facilitate the 
delegation's travel.)  Customs officials at the inland 
station told the Codel that the Tuergate border 
handles 30,000 vehicle crossings (both ways) in one 
year.  The border is open year-round Monday through 
Friday, weather permitting, and closes every evening 
at eight o'clock. 
 
¶11. (SBU) At the inland customs station, all cargo is 
off-loaded, inspected, and, if arriving on a Krygyz 
vehicle, transferred to Chinese-plated trucks. 
Customs agents told the delegation that every item of 
cargo is examined.  The delegation observed customs 
officials running bales of Kyrgyz wool through x-ray 
machines.  Customs officials said their primary goal 
is to interdict weapons and explosives.  A customs 
officer told Poloff that they had not uncovered any 
illegal drug shipments at the port.  The previous 
year, he said, inspectors had found a false bottom in 
one truck that was used for smuggling alcohol. 
Customs authorities regularly find rocks, scrap metal, 
old tools and other items inserted into bales of 
Kyrgyzstani wool to make them heavier.  This 
"contraband" was stacked on shelves next to the x-ray 
machine. 
 
¶12. (U) The CODEL did not have an opportunity to clear 
this cable. 
Randt