China Seeks To Justify
Crackdown On Muslim Separatists
BEIJING, Jan. 21 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - China published a lengthy justification Monday of its crackdown on Muslim separatists in Xinjiang, alleging they were violent "terrorists" directly funded and trained by Osama bin Laden.
The document, issued by China's cabinet, the State Council, maintains that groups advocating a separate state of East Turkestan in the far western Chinese region have close links with international terrorists.
"The 'East Turkestan' terrorist organization based in South Asia has the unstinting support of Osama bin Laden and is an important part of his terrorist forces," the document said.
Human rights groups have accused Beijing of using the ongoing global campaign against terrorism as an excuse to crush even peaceful opposition to its rule in Xinjiang, which borders Afghanistan.
In October, the London-based human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, issued a report warning that the Chinese government's call January 11 for international support of its crackdown on "terrorism" raised concerns about repression.
"The Chinese authorities do not distinguish between 'terrorism' and 'separatism'," Amnesty said in its statement released the same day.
"Separatism in fact covers a broad range of activities most of which amount to no more than peaceful opposition or dissent. Preaching or teaching Islam outside government controls is also considered subversive."
The Chinese cabinet's statement - entitled "'East Turkestan' terrorism forces cannot get away with impunity" - appeared to be a direct response to such concerns, also echoed by United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, Mary Robinson, late last year.
Robinson had warned Chinese leaders during a visit to Beijing in November that they should not use the war on terror as an excuse for widespread repression in Xinjiang.
The document responded firmly: "The Chinese government has not taken advantage of any opportunity to institute suppression.” It added that China targeted only suspected separatists, not the general population.
One organization, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, headed by Hasan Mahsum, a member of Xinjiang's Turkic-speaking ethnic Uighur community, is directly backed by Bin Laden, the report said.
"Since the formation of the 'East Turkestan Islamic Movement', Bin Laden has schemed with the heads of the Central and West Asian terrorist organizations many times to help the 'East Turkestan' terrorist forces in Xinjiang to launch a 'holy war', with the aim of setting up a theocratic 'Islam state' in Xinjiang."
Bin Laden, accused of masterminding the September 11 terror attacks on the United States has, along with Afghanistan's former ruling Taliban militia, provided arms, ammunition, and other equipment to the terrorists, it said.
The document alleged the groups were responsible for 200 "terrorist" incidents in Xinjiang in the past 11 years, including bombings, riots, arson and assassinations, killing more than 160 people.
It said Chinese police had also arrested more than 100 terrorists who sneaked into Xinjiang after being trained in terrorist training bases in Afghanistan and other countries.
Dilixat Raxit, a spokesman for the German-based East Turkestan Information Center, rejected the allegations, saying violent incidents in Xinjiang were no different from those elsewhere in China, and were mainly revenge attacks sparked by dissatisfaction with the government and society.
"Some people, such as Mahsum, fled to Afghanistan as political refugees. Even if they participated in terrorist activities later, they don't represent Uighurs," Raxit said.
Beijing has repeatedly insisted separatist groups in Xinjiang should be dealt with as part of the global campaign against terror, an argument rejected by Washington.
Persistent reports from Xinjiang indicate measures against many forms of separatist sentiment have been stepped up since September 11.
Amnesty said that since the mid-1990's, several hundred Uighurs accused of such activities have been executed while thousands more have been detained, imprisoned and tortured.
The group also said that the Chinese government has placed growing restrictions on the practice of Islam in the region. In November, at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, local and overseas news agencies reported that some Muslims in Xinjiang province had been forbidden from fasting and from wearing Islamic head covers.
China realizes the world considers its separatist issues as different from those in places such as the southern Philippines, where the U.S. has recently sent troops to assist a campaign against groups there, said Hong Kong Chinese University academic Lau Siu-kai.
Lau said that Beijing was sensitive to international perceptions that Xinjiang and Tibet were not necessarily an integral part of the country.
"The West sees [Xinjiang and Tibet] as akin to the situation in Chechnya rather than the southern Philippines," Lau said.
"China knows this and wants to convince the West that Xinjiang terrorists belong to the same family of terrorists."
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