China Denies Building Military Base In Tajikistan  

The Chinese Embassy in Dushanbe on July 15 denied media reports that Beijing is building a military base in Tajikistan, calling the reports “groundless.” The embassy responded to a story in The Daily Telegraph showing satellite photos of buildings and what the report claimed is a shelter for helicopters in the Shaymak region of Tajikistan, near the Afghan border. The Tajik Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Dushanbe and Beijing are “actively cooperating on issues of resistance to challenges and threats.” The statement said the countries are cooperating on controlling cross-border organized crime, drug trafficking, and cybercrime, but denied the existence of the base. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Tajik Service, click here. Reuters contributed to this report.