Monday, December 15, 2003
China issues first ever list of "terrorist" groups
Cindy Sui (AFP) Beijing, December 15
China on Monday issued its first ever list of "terrorist" groups, blaming them for a series of bombings and assassinations and calling for international assistance to wipe them out.
The groups are accused of trying to create an independent Islamic state called "East Turkistan" in northwest China's Xinjiang region, which is populated by the Turkish-speaking Uighur Muslims.
East Turkistan forces inside and outside China have long plotted and executed a series of bombings, assassinations, arsons, poisoning attacks and other activities in Xinjiang and elsewhere in China, said Ministry of Public Security official Zhao Yongshen.
The groups carried out their attacks "to achieve their goal of undermining national unity," said Zhao, Deputy Director of the ministry's bureau of anti-terrorism.
"With numerous crimes committed, they have seriously endangered the safety of the life and property of the Chinese people, and other ethnic groups and threatened the security and stability of relevant countries in the region," Zhao said at a briefing.
He called for help from countries where the groups operate.
"I strongly call on governments of all foreign countries to outlaw the four terrorist organisations that our country has designated to stop providing safe havens for these organizations and freeze their assets," Zhao said.
The list comes with Beijing anxious to seize upon the global counter-terrorism campaign to gain international support for its fight against Uighur separatists, whom it considers terrorists.
The groups identified were the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the Eastern Turkistan Liberation Organisation (ETLO), the World Uighur Youth Congress (WUYC) and the East Turkistan Information Center (ETIC).
China said the ETIM and ETLO have received funding from al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, including several million US dollars to spread religious extremism and carry out terrorist activities.
Some of them have established bases outside China to train terrorists and plot sabotage activities, frequently sending agents into China to guide terrorist acts, according to a ministry statement released at the briefing. Zhao declined to name the countries China wants to target for assistance, but the statement said some of the groups and their leaders have operated out of Germany and Turkey.
The ETLO, for example, was founded in Turkey, with its headquarters in Istanbul, the ministry said. The ETIC was founded in Munich, Germany and was headquartered there.
Its Sweden-based spokesman frequently contacts foreign journalists in China to voice his concerns about government campaigns in Xinjiang. Zhao said the ETIC had carried out bomb attacks targeting railroads and used the Internet to instigate terrorist activities.
"This organisation is actually an out and out terrorist organisation engaged in terrorist activities with the cloak of an information center," Zhao said. Some South and West Asian countries also have served as the bases for terrorist training, the ministry claimed.
Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States, China has stepped up efforts to control a restless Uighur population in Xinjiang, often under the guise of fighting terrorism.
Last year, the United States announced it would freeze the assets of the little-known ETIM's members -- a move seen as a pay-off for Chinese support of the US war against terrorism.
Shortly afterwards, China received a major boost when the United Nations added ETIM to its list of terrorist organisations.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2003.