TASHKENT, Uzbekistan ? Making his first trip abroad since a bloody crackdown on protesters, Uzbek President Islam Karimov left Tuesday on a visit to China, which has provided a rare note of support for the authoritarian Central Asian leader.

Karimov, who has rebuffed international calls for an independent inquiry into the May 13 bloodshed, apparently looked to his trip to underline that China is on his side. On Tuesday, Beijing said it “firmly” backed his actions in crushing anti-government demonstrators.

China is eager to tap into Central Asia’s energy resources, and it has watched warily since the United States deployed troops to the region after the Sept. 11 attacks, including at an Uzbek base.

Beijing also wants stability in the former Soviet states of Central Asia, a region that China – like Russia – considers a tinderbox of Islamic militancy that could spread to its territory.

The Chinese and Uzbek governments said Karimov’s visit was planned long before the May 13 uprising in the eastern Uzbek town of Andijan.

Western governments harshly criticized Karimov for using force to put down the uprising. But China and Russia have been more supportive of Karimov’s decision to act after armed men seized government buildings and broke into a jail to free 23 businessmen accused of Islamic extremism.

Uzbek officials claim 169 people – mainly militants – were killed in Andijan. But rights activists contend hundreds of protesters died and insist many were unarmed civilians who were only voicing their opposition to Karimov’s government and anger over economic woes.

NATO and the European Union have called for an independent probe of the events, but Karimov has resisted.

Uzbek officials failed to show up Tuesday as foreign ministers and officials from NATO nations and 20 of their neighbors to the east began two days of discussions about stability in the Euro-Asian region. Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds, the host, said Karimov’s government gave no reason for withdrawing.