China Ready to Help Kazakhstan Fight Protesters

jpnn.com, CHINA - China, one of the countries known for using a repressive approach to silence their people, has offered to help Kazakhstan, which has been rocked by protests and violent unrest over the past week.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that his country was willing to increase law enforcement and security cooperation with Kazakhstan and help oppose external powers' interference amid violent protests in the Central Asian country.

Wang, who also serves as a state adviser, made the remarks in a telephone call with Kazakh Prime Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Wang Yi said that the sudden chaos in Kazakhstan showed that Central Asia was still confronted with severe challenges and revealed that certain external forces did not want peace and tranquility in the region.

Government buildings in Kazakhstan were seized or burned in several cities last week as initially peaceful protests against fuel prices escalated into violence.

Soldiers were ordered to kill to quell rebellions across the country.

Authorities accused the violence of being carried out by extremists, including foreign-trained Islamist militants to foment the violence.

Authorities also asked the Russian-led military bloc to send its troops, which the government said had been deployed to guard strategic places.