ABSTRACT
Xinjiang is China's westernmost region, bordering Central Asia, specifically Afghanistan and Pakistan. Although an international project, a key driver of the Silk Road Economic Belt is to secure economic growth, and therefore stability and security, for Xinjiang. China's concerns in Xinjiang in part stem from a desire to contain the threat of separatism, namely militant groups or groups attempting any attack on the political status quo. The fight against separatism, extremism and terrorism is a key domestic and foreign policy concern for China. For Beijing, the solution for ensuring domestic stability is not just a blunt security response. Seen from the outside, Xinjiang faces a binary approach from Beijing: an aggressive security crackdown; and heavy economic investment. For Beijing, the heavy economic investment is in fact the long-term security response – a logic that permeates the broader Belt and Road Initiative concept.
