China

China is presented in two connected but distinct ways: as a state confronting Muslim separatist elements in its western provinces, and as a power within the broader strategic landscape of Central Asia. Chomsky’s account traces links between some militants and the Afghan war while also situating China among governments whose security policies and interests could intersect with a US-led international coalition.

Western Provinces and Militant Networks

Chomsky describes Muslim communities in China’s western provinces as including people fighting against Chinese rule. He connects some of these fighters to the Afghan conflict: according to sources he cites, China may have sent some Muslim Chinese to Afghanistan as early as 1978 to join a guerrilla campaign against the government then in power. After the Soviet invasion in 1979, some later joined forces organized by the CIA to support that government. The passage thus presents a complicated sequence in which individuals associated with opposition to Chinese authority became part of a force backed by outside powers in Afghanistan.

The account returns to this history when considering a prospective counterterrorism coalition. Chomsky says China was confronting separatist elements in its west, including people he calls “Afghans,” some of whom China and Iran may themselves have organized for the war against the Russians. He treats this as one example of the shifting affiliations and political uses of armed groups: actors once mobilized for one conflict may later be encountered by states in another setting, under a different description.

China in the Coalition Debate

Chomsky places China among the governments that might welcome a US-sponsored international system if it enabled them to pursue their own campaigns against groups they considered threats. His point is not that every government’s actions are identical, but that coalition membership and counterterrorism language can obscure the interests and conduct of participating states. China’s conflict with separatist elements therefore appears alongside examples involving Russia, Indonesia, and Algeria, as part of his broader warning about the political consequences of granting powerful governments wide latitude in the name of counterterrorism.

This argument turns on the difference between a state’s description of its adversaries and a consistent definition of political violence. Elsewhere in the discussion, Chomsky argues that official definitions of terrorism can also describe coercive state practices, while public usage often reserves the label for violence by enemies. China’s appearance in the coalition discussion extends that critique: the same government can be treated as a partner against terrorism even as its own security campaign raises questions about how the category is applied.

Central Asia and Strategic Geography

China also appears in the account of the regional stakes surrounding Afghanistan. Chomsky describes Central Asia as important because of its substantial resources and its place in wider efforts to secure influence over energy supplies. He notes that proposed pipelines through Afghanistan had been discussed for years as part of US efforts to maneuver around Central Asian resources. In this analysis, Afghanistan is a relatively minor piece on a larger strategic board, while the surrounding region matters for its resources and for the routes and military access that could shape outside powers’ influence.

In his assessment of the consequences of the Afghan war, Chomsky says the United States established major military bases in Central Asia for the first time. He links those bases to the protection of multinational interests under US dominance and to a wider network intended to strengthen control around the Gulf’s major energy resources. China is part of the regional setting for this argument, though the passages do not describe a specific Chinese response to the bases or assign China a direct role in their establishment.

The Limits of the Account

China’s role in these passages is therefore contextual rather than the subject of a sustained country profile. The evidence identifies the western provinces as a setting of separatist conflict, recounts possible historical links between some Chinese Muslims and Afghan armed networks, and places China among states whose interests could be served by a US-backed counterterrorism order. It also situates the country within a Central Asian landscape of resources, pipelines, military access, and competing influence. The account does not provide a detailed description of Chinese policy, the scale of the conflict, or its outcome; its emphasis is on the shifting alignments through which states and armed groups are classified and used.