Western support for Xinjiang terrorist groups courts disaster
- Source: Global Times
- [21:45 July 27 2010]
- Comments
Illustration: Liu Rui
By Li Wei
Over the years, some Western countries have regarded separatists in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region as a purely Chinese problem, directly or indirectly providing support and assistance to "East Turkistan" forces and using them in domestic political struggles and as a tool for containing China.
However, in early July this year, Norway and Germany arrested three terrorist suspects in the fight against Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, who may belong to the Turkistan Islamic Party, more commonly known as the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM).
One of the terrorist suspects is a Uyghur from China. The investigation showed that they tried to attack some targets in Norway, Britain and other Western countries. It came as a surprise to those who support the "East Turkistan" forces, and confirmed an old Chinese saying that to "rear a tiger is to court calamity."
Despite the large number of terrorist attacks by "East Turkistan" aiming at splitting China in Xinjiang, some Western forces are still stuck in a Cold War mentality and exercise a double standards, refusing to admit that the East Turkistan separatists are terrorists.
This is especially the case with East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which, despite being a terrorist organization incorporated in the UN Security Council sanctions list, is claimed not to exist at all by some members in US Congress. They argue that China lumps together many disparate organizations under a single label.
They suggested the US Department of State mark it off the terrorist watch list. This is a confusing proposal at a time when the US is supposed to be cooperating with other nations in battling the threat of worldwide terrorism.
The internationalization of terrorist attacks by ETIM should receive high attention from the international community.
In 2003, ETIM absorbed some members of another terrorist organization, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and changed its name to the Turkistan Islamic Party.
That is why there was an Uzbek among the terrorist suspects arrested in Norway. In 2008-09, besides frequently posting terrorist videos against China on the Internet, this organization also sent key members to train the terrorists in China, and launched a series of terrorist attacks in Kashgar and Kuqa of Xinjiang on the eve of the Beijing Olympic Games.
Although ETIM's roots are still located in South Asia together with other international terrorist forces, the terror plot uncovered by Norway shows that the growing diversity of ETIM will inevitably lead to the internationalization of terrorist attacks.
The reason why ETIM becomes more active and aggressive is closely related to another East Turkistan organization, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC). With anti-terrorism efforts deepening in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the ETIM cells in those regions have been moving elsewhere.
