| Publication |
2009.
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| Summary/Abstract |
As a rising power in the international system, China is discovering that, like many states before it, the ascendancy to great power status sometimes entails significant terrorism risks. Recent attacks against Chinese nationals (or commercial interests) in Africa, Central Asia, and South Asia appear to reflect this trend. In addition, since the early 1990s, China has endured a series of violent attacks emanating from (or associated with) its restive northwest Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Beijing's search for energy security and its associated commercial activities in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Central Asia suggests that terrorism risks for China may increase in the future. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks in the United States and U.S.-Chinese counterterrorism cooperation prior to and during the 2008 Olympic Games, Washington and Beijing have discovered they have many common interests in countering the global threat of terrorism. However, for long-term cooperation to be sustained, the two countries must overcome or manage various disagreements on issues related to terrorism and the larger challenges associated with geopolitical competition. If these differences can be mitigated or resolved, China and the United States may be ideally positioned to establish a powerful and long-term bulwark against international terrorism and the instability that it promotes.
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