Firm founded by ex-Blackwater boss to operate in China’s Xinjiang province

 

A security firm founded by Erik Prince, the former boss of the private military company Blackwater, has announced a deal with the Chinese state to operate a training facility in China’s largely Muslim Xinjiang province. In the months following the United States invasion of Iraq, Blackwater was hired by the Department of State to provide diplomatic security at several locations throughout the Middle Eastern country. By 2010, when the company was abruptly sold to a group of private investors, its tactics in Iraq had prompted international controversy. Prince went on to help found Frontier Services Group (FSG), another private security firm registered in Hong Kong. The company provides security training to personnel working for Chinese companies. Its specialization is training personnel of Chinese firms based abroad, mainly in regions of Africa.

China Plans to Launch Its Own ‘Blackwater’

(Photo Credit: BrokenSphere via Creative Commons 3.0)

 

Not surprisingly, Erik Prince is involved in those discussions.

As its sprawling, trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative is struggling with security concerns, the Chinese government is now reportedly turning to an American who is an expert in those matters to meet those needs.