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China-Japan-Koreas
Al Qaeda’s Passage to China
2005-12-07
DEBKA, add salt.
In mid-September, Al Qaeda diverted a small but potent force from Iraq to a new mission: the opening of a new front in China. The unit was smuggled into the Chinese border town of Kushi in the Xinjiang Uygur province in November, after a meandering journey traced by DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s counter-terror sources. There, the terrorists were quickly absorbed by the al Qaeda infrastructure of local Uygur Muslim extremist cells. Their plan of campaign in the first stage was to reach Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai for strikes against US embassies and consulates, American firms operating in China and American tourists.

(This al Qaeda group was previously revealed by DEBKA-Net-Weekly 229 on Nov. 11 [A Jihadist Airlift] as having set out from Baghdad between mid-September and early October, stopping over in Qatar and proceeding to Konduz in northern Afghanistan for special training.)

DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s sources report the terrorists slipped north from Konduz into Tajikistan and onto the Kyrgyz section of the strategic Fergana Valley which straddles Central Asia. There, they rendezvoused at two places, Osh and Jalal-Abad close to the Kyrgyz-Uzbekistan border, establishing jumping-off points for both China and Central Asia.

The Islamist terrorists were guided from Konduz into Kyrgyzstan by armed men of al Qaeda’s operational arm in Uzbekistan, the MUI, which also has tentacles in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as well as training camps in the Fergana Valley. The commander of these cells is Tahir Yuldashev, an old comrade of Osama bin Laden who fought alongside him in Afghanistan. In 2004, Yuldashev returned to Tashkent from the badlands of Pakistan’s South Waziristan and was ordered to prepare facilities in Osh and Jalal-Abad for the incoming terrorist unit. His payment was a section of the force to boost his campaign against Uzbek president Karimov. The unit from Konduz accordingly divided into two heads – the largest proceeding from Osh into China and fetching up in Kushi, while the second group assembled in Jalal-Abad, turned west and crossed into Uzbekistan to set up base in the Fergana town of Andijon.

American and British military and intelligence officials picked up the group’s arrival at the Konduz training facility, but decided after consultation that the large-scale forces needed to eradicate the facility would be hard to muster. They therefore resolved to await events and meanwhile find out where the mysterious al Qaeda force was heading.

According to DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s intelligence sources, Washington reported the arrival to Moscow, hoping the counter-terror-trained Russian Motorized Rifle Division 201 stationed in Uzbekistan would step in to wipe out the al Qaeda intruders. The Russians declined to take action, but said they would not object to Beijing sending Chinese troops over the border to tackle the incoming terrorists. This was the first time Moscow had ever consented to the Chinese military stepping into Central Asian soil and joining the war on terror in that region.
I don't think so. Russians are touchy about borders
Clearly, the Kremlin, which frowns on American military bases and movements in Central Asia, was not eager to pull American chestnuts out of the fire. The skirmishing between Washington, Moscow and Beijing over who should tackle the al Qaeda menace – if anyone – had the result of opening the door for al Qaeda to move a force across half the globe from Iraq to the Far East unhindered and plant it in western China and eastern Uzbekistan.

The Chinese government was caught totally unprepared and did its best to tune out the loud alarums sounded by Chinese military and security chiefs. However, on November 9, the Chinese police alerted the US embassy in Beijing to a possible attack by Islamic rebels on luxury hotels throughout China. The US embassy accordingly advised American visitors to “review their plans” to stay at four- and five-star hotels in China over the coming week.
We heard about that
A sharper notice was issued in the southern Chinese town of Guangzhou relaying “credible information” that a terrorist threat may exist against official US government facilities in the city. American citizens in south China were advised to remain alert to possible threats.

China’s Ministry of Public Security responded to these warnings, which were obviously sourced in Chinese police circles, with anger. A statement accused an unnamed “foreign citizen” of fabricating the so-called attack on four- and five-star hotels in China. The Chinese foreign ministry chipped in with, “Chinese public security has never issued such a warning for foreigners on the hotel issue,” its spokesman told reporters. “Chinese hotels are safe!” he added. US officials diplomatically withdrew their terror alert notice.

However, while Chinese officials are doing their utmost to calm fears that could affect the tourist industry, DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s counter-terror sources affirm that a terror alert is indeed in force in Chinese cities.
Posted by:Steve

#11  Shipman, you're so young. I'll bet you don't have to put rice in your aslt seller either.
Posted by: Snemble Elmairt3619   2005-12-07 17:21  

#10  The logo is a pictoral demonstration of the company's logo:

When it rains, it pours

This slogan refers to the manufacturer's (then revolutionary) addition of anti-caking agents which permitted their product to remain free-flowing even during wet weather.
Posted by: Zenster   2005-12-07 17:02  

#9  I've always wondered why the Morton's sent that kid out in a storm with what looks like a 20 lb. keg of salt. Was it some sort of cheap publicity stunt? Poorly clothed for what looks like a gale, she has only a golf umbrella for protection.
Posted by: Shipman   2005-12-07 16:56  

#8  So.......................given all of the **ahem** harsh methods of interrogation, punishment, etc. of the ChiComs, I would think *heh* that the LLL would be jumping all over the Chicoms about their denying of fundamental human rights to alledged criminals and terrorists.

Since I only hear crickets chirping, I hear opportunity knocking. We need to contract our interrogation work on terrorists with the Chicoms. Surely the MSM cannot object to that. If the EUniks want to sell weapons to the Chicoms, surely they cannot object to our little commercial venture.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2005-12-07 13:54  

#7  I'd wager there is still a significant remnant of "self-reporting" of suspicious activity by citizens in order to gain favor with officials or thwart opponents (regardless of criminal intent). This alone could be contributing to the continued functionality of a police state, even if there is no longer such a heavy official presence in public.

As in Soviet Russia, the once widespread monitoring of civilian communication still lingers today in a reticence to speak about sensitive issues aloud in public, if at all. While I was in Armenia, any discussion regarding the murder of Pogos Pogosyan was intensely discouraged, even in a moving car. My hosts, at first, tried to pretend they had never even heard of the man.

Given these concepts, I would tend to think that there is a lot of residual behavior modification still lingering in place that tends to benefit the communist government with respect to combating terrorism.
Posted by: Zenster   2005-12-07 13:51  

#6  Thanks for the kind words, all.

Zenster: Restricted movement, gun control, intense communications monitoring, heavy police presence, to name a few.

Only one out of the four exists - gun control. First, movement in China isn't restricted - people move across the country at will - in many cases emigrating illegally to other provinces. The cops can check their papers at will, but China is very lightly-policed, relative to the size of the population - per 100,000 population, they may have 1/10 of NYC's cops.

Second, intense communications monitoring is only with regard to the internet. It's impossible to monitor phone conversations - there are simply too many phone lines to listen to in real time, and audio recordings aren't really searchable in the same way as internet e-mails and text messages. Internet monitoring only helps with suppressing political dissent.

Third, as I mentioned earlier, China doesn't spend the kind of money it used to on its secret police - much of that budget is now being diverted to building infrastructure, office and residential space, among other things. The police presence is basically non-existent. Non-homicide-related crime is probably lower than European levels, but higher than American levels.

What is the Chinese secret? Intense punishment of suspected criminals, ranging from long jail sentences to relatively low thresholds for the death penalty. Expedited trial, sentencing and appeals process. The torture of suspected criminals. A lot of innocents are probably caught up in the net, but the guilty ones definitely get what was coming to them and then some. Terrorists who are captured alive would expect to get the third degree - which is why they would probably stay away from attacks in China. The truth is that suppression by brute force doesn't build dissent - it builds fear and submission - even on the part of supposedly hardened terrorists.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2005-12-07 13:07  

#5  It will be supremely interesting to see whether or not al Qaeda can operate at all in communist China. If ever a country had all of the anti-terrorist safeguards in place, it would be China. Restricted movement, gun control, intense communications monitoring, heavy police presence, to name a few. Add to this (as Zhang Fei mentioned [welcome back!]) the communists' tendency to rip all internal dissent five new ones, and al Qaeda's future in China sort of loses its showroom shine. Personally, I'd love to see these Islamist loons throw a huge portion of their resources into making life miserable for the communist Chinese. Unfortunately, I'm fairly confident it will be the other way around.
Posted by: Zenster   2005-12-07 12:41  

#4  Welcome back, Mr. Zhang Fei, glad to see one of the regulars back.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2005-12-07 12:14  

#3  gromky: Moslem people look funny, and they stand out.

That's because they're Caucasian, more or less. Physically, they're more like Afghans than Han Chinese.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2005-12-07 11:36  

#2  They'll have a hard time getting out of Xinjiang and into the rest of China. Moslem people look funny, and they stand out. I saw one the other day, and the fact that I remember it should say something.
Posted by: gromky   2005-12-07 11:09  

#1  I don't really see what's in it for the Uighurs. They're up to their asses in alligators with the Chinese authorities. I don't see them cooperating with Al Qaeda to go after Americans unless they're getting money and/or weapons. Note that the Chinese applauded 9/11 and have no really problem with large numbers of Americans getting killed. But do it on their soil, and they will skin captured terrorists alive if they have to, to find and track down their accomplices. There's no political correctness about the morality or the effectiveness of torture in China.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2005-12-07 11:04  

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