BEIJING. May 19 (Interfax) - Russia and China could successfully cooperate in cracking down on extremism within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), National Strategy Institute President Mikhail Remizov said.
"Such cooperation aimed at deterring the explosive potential of Islamism and politicized extremism in the Central Asian region, and partly in Transcaucasia, has been taking place within the SCO," Remizov told Interfax on the sidelines of a recent Russian-Chinese conference, entitled "Democratic Institutions in Multiethnic Societies".
"Russia and China have been the targets of attacks on the part of Islamic fundamentalism, which justifies the possibility and need for cooperation," he said.
"However, Russia and China are split over some of the ways to promote cooperation in tackling national problems," the analyst said.
"One of these problems is the extensive and tight-knit Chinese community in the Primorye territory, especially in its southern part. Beijing has been following the formation of this community. This is part of its state policy. The community itself enjoys gentle support from the state," he said.
The so-called "Chinese threat" actually faces several Russian regions, including the Primorye territory, Remizov said.
"As far as cooperation is concerned, the two countries' positions both coincide on certain issues and differ over others. They see eye to eye regarding the need to counter attacks on the part of periphery Muslim regions, but they disagree over the Chinese community in Russian regions, which will become quite an acute problem in the future," he said.