Reuters: China’s defense minister met the head of Afghanistan’s army, thanking him for Kabul’s support in fighting what Beijing says is an extremist group that seeks to split off its western region of Xinjiang. China has long been concerned that instability in Afghanistan will spill over into violence-prone Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people, where hundreds have died in recent years in unrest blamed by Beijing on Islamist extremists. Click here to read more (external link).