Crossroads Asia | Security | Central Asia

China Funds 9 Border Posts for Tajikistan as Frontier Violence Escalates

The $61 million grant fits a decade-long pattern of Chinese security investment – now accelerating after attacks on Chinese nationals.

On March 4, Tajikistan’s parliament approved a Chinese-funded project to construct nine border facilities along the country’s frontier with Afghanistan. The total cost of the project exceeds 569 million somoni – approximately $61 million – to be provided by Beijing as a non-repayable grant. In return, Dushanbe will exempt the project from taxes, customs duties, and other mandatory payments.

Construction will cover 17,109 square meters of facilities, including observation posts and headquarters, in three phases. Chinese engineers will travel to Tajikistan to install and configure technical systems, and Beijing will supply equipment, access roads, water supply, and electricity connections.

The announcement comes three months after a wave of lethal attacks on Chinese nationals near the Afghan-Tajik border. In late November 2025, a drone carrying an explosive device struck a compound belonging to Shohin SM, a Chinese gold-mining company in the Shamsiddin Shohin district of the Khatlon region, killing three Chinese workers. Four days later, gunmen opened fire on workers of the state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation in the Darvaz district, killing at least two more. Tajik authorities said both attacks originated from villages in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province.

Construction of the Dushanbe-China international highway in Darvaz was suspended in the aftermath, and the Chinese embassy in Dushanbe ordered personnel near the border to evacuate while demanding that Tajik authorities take “the necessary measures” to ensure their protection. No group has claimed the attacks, but analysts point to the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) as the most likely actor, given the group’s documented strategy of targeting foreign nationals to undermine both the Taliban’s credibility and China’s regional economic footprint.

For Beijing, the attacks are a direct threat to its Belt and Road investments across Central Asia. China is Tajikistan’s largest creditor, and its economic presence in the country – spanning mining, infrastructure, and telecoms – has grown substantially over the past decade. Tajikistan’s 1,344-kilometer border with Afghanistan and its proximity to China’s restive Xinjiang region make it a critical security buffer. In 2014, President Xi Jinping warned that Uyghur fighters returning from conflict zones could exploit Afghanistan as a staging ground for attacks on China through the narrow Wakhan Corridor, which connects Afghanistan directly to Xinjiang.

The new border posts follow a well-worn pattern. According to Tajik security officials, 12 border........

© The Diplomat