China slams US for delisting Xinjiang’s ETIM as terrorist outfit

Beijing, November 6

China on Friday sharply criticised the US for delisting Xinjiang’s separatist militant outfit East Turkistan Islamic Movement from its listing of terrorist organisations, saying it mirrored Washington’s “double standards” on preventing world terrorism.

In a significant coverage shift on November 5, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lifted the ban on East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which was designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN’s 1267 counter-terrorism committee in 2002 for its alleged affiliation with al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.

China accuses ETIM, which is entrenched in Uighur Muslim-majority province of Xinjiang, of being chargeable for quite a few violent assaults within the province and out of doors, together with one on the Forbidden City in Beijing, killing a number of folks.

The US in latest months has stepped up its criticism of China’s remedy of about 12 million minority Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.

Since final 12 months, China has been below extreme worldwide criticism together with from the UN and western international locations over allegations that it’s holding over 1,000,000 folks, principally ethnic Uighurs, in internment camps in Xinjiang, in a bid to wean them away from non secular extremism.

The resource-rich Xinjiang province is dwelling to Turkik talking Uighur Muslims. The province is restive for a number of years over settlements of Han Chinese.

China defends the camps, describing the amenities as re-education centres aimed toward de-radicalising sections of the Uyghur Muslim inhabitants from extremism and separatism.

Asked for his response on the US transfer to delist ETIM, which calls itself a separatist outfit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin instructed a media briefing right here on Friday that “China deplores and rejects US decision”.

“The ETIM is a UN Security Council listed terrorist organisation and is recognised as such by the international community,” he stated.

Wang stated that the ETIM has lengthy been partaking in violent terrorist actions, inflicting huge casualties and property loss and posing a grave menace to the safety and stability in China, the area and the world.

“Fighting ETIM is an international consensus and an important part of the international counter-terrorism fight. The US was a co-sponsor of the listing of the ETIM in the UN in 1267 committee and now it is flip-flopping on its position,” he stated.

“This once again shows those in power at Washington has double standards on counter-terrorism and has ugly two-faced approach to terrorist organisations. Terrorist organisations are terrorist organisations,” he stated.

The US ought to appropriate its mistake and don’t whitewash terrorist organisations and don’t soft-pedal on worldwide counter-terrorism cooperation, Wang added.

Last 12 months, China launched a uncommon documentary exhibiting for the primary time among the lethal assaults carried out by the ETIM in Xinjiang, justifying the large crackdown and detention of hundreds of Uyghur Muslims within the restive province amidst mounting worldwide criticism. PTI