1999 at the encouragement of pakistan which is one of china s closest allies. reporter: the relationship was seen to manage a potential threat. as china share as small border with afghanistan. and chooe china s multibillion-dollar investments are at stake. i think that they are wary to get involved militarily. and so at this stage i think trying to cultivate it into investments, it is the least worst option. reporter: the taliban for its part has not spoken out publicly against china s crackdown on its weaker muslim population. a silence replicated by many other muslim-majority countries such as iran and saudi arabia. the chinese government defends its policy and says that it is trying to stamp out terrorism. after several attacks which it blamed on a group called the e etim, a tiny fringe group that
and so at this stage i think trying to cultivate the taliban with investments is the least worst option. reporter: the taliban for its part has not spoken out publicly against china s crackdown on its uighur population, a silence replicated by many other muslim majority countries such as iran and saudi arabia. the chinese government defending its policy trying to stamp out terrorism. after several attacks which it blamed on a group called the etim, a tiny fringe group that began to dissolve when its leader was killed by the pakistani mill 245er in 2003. sean roberts, author of the war on the weerg uighurs said it ue war on terror to justify its target. i think that it shielded china from a lot of criticism for some of the draconian
investments. that s the worst option at the moment. reporter: the taliban for its part has not spoken out publicly against china s crackdown on its uighur muslim population, a silence replicated by saudi arabia and china defriends its policy and is trying to stamp out terrorism. after several attacks which it blamed on a group called the east turkmenistan islamic movement or etim, a tiny fringe group which began to devolve in 1939. the chinese ewing yurz used george w. bush s war on terror to target the policies used by ethnic minorities. i think that shielded china from a lot of criticism for some of the draconian policies it carried out against uighurs. reporter: but other groups who could use the plight of the uighur cause to recruit jihadis,