NY Times: China Brands Muslim Groups as Terrorists

China Brands Muslim Groups as Terrorists

BEIJING, Dec. 15 — China issued its first formal list of terrorists on Monday, accusing four Muslim separatist groups and 11 individuals of committing violence and acts of terror, while calling on other nations to help in cracking down on them.

China's decision to release an official list of terrorist organizations emulates the list that the United States introduced after the Sept. 11 attacks and has since updated. Critics have argued that China is using the pretense of a campaign against terrorism to legitimize its harsh treatment of Muslim Uighur minorities that are peacefully seeking a separate state in the western province of Xinjiang.

Zhao Yongshen, an antiterrorism official with the Ministry of Public Security, said Monday that the groups on China's list had coordinated bombings and assassinations in a campaign to create an independent "East Turkistan" in Xinjiang.

Mr. Zhao asked other countries to freeze bank accounts and arrest and prosecute those on the list.

Last year, Chinese officials issued a report claiming that Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, his terrorist network, had helped finance and train separatists in Xinjiang. China also persuaded the United States to put one group, the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, on the American terrorist list last year.

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China Brands Muslim Groups as Terrorists

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