ABSTRACT
This chapter examines China's management of the transnational threat of terrorism, with a particular focus on the terrorism menace along its Western periphery. It provides an overview of the terrorism threat in four geographies in China's Western periphery: Tibet and Xinjiang; Central Asia; the Afghanistan-Pakistan theatres; and the Middle East. The chapter analyses the threat in these areas from the perspective of China's internal security, economic security and transnational security, and discusses China's responses to these threats. The potential threat of terrorism arises from transnational jihadists militant movements that exploit vulnerabilities through their illegitimate mobilisation of the domestic populace and the facilitation of their existing grievances. China's cooperation on terrorism-related issues with Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Central Asian governments supports the argument that the Chinese view the terrorism threat in these countries as a transnational security issue which warrants its attention. China has established economic relations with Middle Eastern countries in areas of trade and export and infrastructure construction.
