China offers Kazakhstan security support, opposes ‘external forces’ – FM

China is willing to increase “law enforcement and security” cooperation with Kazakhstan and help oppose interference by “external forces”, China’s foreign minister said on Monday, after violent protests in the Central Asian country.

Wang Yi, who is also a state councilor, made the comments in a call to Kazakhstan’s foreign minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

“Recent turmoil in Kazakhstan shows that the situation in Central Asia is still facing severe challenges, and it once again proves that some external forces do not want peace and tranquility in our region,” the ministry quoted Wang telling Tileuberdi.

Government buildings in Kazakhstan were briefly captured or torched in several cities last week as initially peaceful protests against fuel price increases turned violent. Troops were ordered to shoot to kill to put down a countrywide uprising.

Authorities have blamed the violence on “extremists” including foreign-trained Islamist militants for the violence.

Authorities also asked a Russian-led military bloc to send in troops, who the government says have been deployed to guard strategic sites.

China was willing to “jointly oppose the interference and infiltration of any external forces”, said Wang.

China’s President Xi Jinping on Friday told Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev that China resolutely opposed any force destabilising Kazakhstan, Chinese state television said.