Backgrounder: A Chinese Security Crisis on the Afghan-Tajik Border?

Workers of Talco Gold, the joint Tajik-Chinese mining firm, interact in front of a billboard-sized poster bearing a picture of China's leader Xi Jinping and Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon at the Saritag antimony mine in western Tajikistan on August 26, 2025. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP)

A total of five Chinese workers have been killed and a further five injured in successive attacks on the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The Chinese embassy in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe advised Chinese nationals and firms to leave the area.

Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon “strongly condemned the illegal and provocative actions of Afghan citizens and ordered that effective measures be taken to resolve the problem and prevent a recurrence of such incidents,” according to the presidential press service.

  • Get a daily email packed with the latest news and analysis from Africa, Asia, and across the Global South.
  • Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China’s relations across the Global South.
  • Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in the Global South.

China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening.

Subscribe today for unlimited access.

OR

Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More
by CGSP Staff

Most Read

1
Developing Countries’ Debt Servicing Costs to China Are Significant, but Nowhere Near as Much as Other Creditors
2
Uncertainty Roils Minerals Markets
3 Chinese Scholars See Russia’s Venezuela Strategy as a Model of Hybrid Power Projection in the U.S.’ Backyard
4 From J-10C to Kaan? Indonesia’s Fighter Jet Deal With Turkey Shocks Chinese Military Fans
5 Chinese Military Fans Discuss Why Indonesia Bought Rafale Instead of J-10C
6
Indonesia Goes Nuclear, Taps China and Russia for Modular Reactors

You Might Like

Taliban Announces Arrests Following Attack on Chinese Nationals in Tajikistan

Afghanistan’s Taliban government announced that two suspects have been arrested in connection with an attack on China Road and Bridge Corporation personnel on 30 November. Two people were killed, and two were ...

China Pulls Taliban Deeper into Central Asian Fold

China’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, met with the Taliban’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and the acting Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid. The meeting was confirmed by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning ...

Talks in Iran Highlight Security Challenges with Afghanistan

Representatives from China joined counterparts from several Central and South Asian countries in Tehran to map new approaches to Afghanistan. However, the Afghan delegation did not attend. In addition to the host Iran, ...

Three Chinese Citizens Killed in Tajik-Afghan Border Clash

Three Chinese workers in Tajikistan were killed in an attack launched from Afghanistan near the border, Tajik authorities said Thursday. Tajikistan has strained relations with the Taliban in Afghanistan and several border clashes ...

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.

More about CGSP