Terrorism in China
[9] Subsequently, on 24th January, the People's Daily published an opinion piece demanding that anti-terrorism work must be carried out under the established legal systems.
[11][8] In the modern context, any group or force with the potential to challenge the existing social order or the political security of the rulers may be considered a form of terrorism.
[12][14] Media reports and scholarly studies of terrorism in contemporary China frequently focus on members of the largely Muslim Uyghur ethnic group, who are concentrated in the northwestern province of Xinjiang.
[17] In the 1980s, Chinese authorities relaxed some of its repressive policies against ethnic minorities, and loosened border controls which allowed Uyghurs to travel to the Mecca Pilgrimage.
[18] The increase in fundamentalism has been linked to the Islamic revival of the 1980s, following Deng Xiaoping's political reforms which sought to reduce the suppression of religion, by way of the promotion of atheism, that was widespread during Mao's rule.
[11] Some groups have adopted violent tactics in pursuit of these goals, mostly the establishment of a separate Uyghur state called East Turkistan or Uyghuristan, which lays claim to a large part of China.
[26] Instances of violence by ethnic Uyghurs against security forces, organs, or infrastructure of the state are far more common, but are distinguished by scholars from terrorism aimed against the civilian population.
[8] On 28 October 2013, five Uyghurs drove a jeep into Beijing's Tiananmen Square, set the gas tank on fire, killing two civilians and injuring more than forty bystanders.
[27] On 27 May 2014 a rare mass trial was held at a packed sports stadium in Xinjiang where three people were sentenced to death and another 53 received lengthy jail terms, after being convicted of terrorism charges.
[28] TIP (ETIM) sent the "Turkistan Brigade" (Arabic: كتيبة تركستاني, Katibat Turkistani) to take part in the Syrian Civil War,[29] most noticeably in the 2015 Jisr al-Shughur offensive.
[34] There have been no terrorist attacks in Xinjiang since 2017 following the Chinese government's responses against it such as mass surveillance, increased arrests, and a system of re-education camps, estimated to hold a million Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minority ethnic groups.
[38] However, in 1950, the Chinese annexed Tibet and its outlying areas, occupied it, displaced Tibetan political and religious institutions, and assumed governance of the nation.
Discontent surrounding the Chinese-implemented land reforms and assimilation policies in Tibetan areas led to revolts and intermittent warfare, although the Chinese central government took care to delay or lengthen the implementation of certain programs in comparison to the rest of the nation.
Some Tibetan paramilitary groups during the period, such as Chushi Gangdruk, received covert material and training support from the Central Intelligence Agency and the Taiwan-based Kuomintang government.
"[13] Human rights and international law experts have raised concerns over the implications of the bills in light of the lack of judicial independence in the People's Republic of China.
[46] A representative of Human Rights Watch was reported as saying "strengthening law enforcement powers without appropriate judicial checks and balances is dangerous," and further noted that it was unclear how and by whom groups and individuals would be designated as terrorists.
"[19] The group was considerably weakened following the American-led invasion of Afghanistan which saw the death of its leader Hasan Mahsum, as well as Emir Abu Mohammed, who was killed in October 2003 in raid on an al-Qaeda training camp in Waziristan by Pakistani forces.
[51][52] According to Stratfor, following the death of Mahsum, the group fractured and a successor movement with ties to Central Asian militants was formed in Afghanistan, under the leadership of Abdul Haq al-Turkistani.
[8] According to political scientist Chung Chien-peng, following a spate of unrest and violence in Xinjiang and Tibet in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Chinese authorities adopted a variety of approach to suppress what it considers the "three evils."
In addition, authorities launched "strike hard" campaigns against crime, which also had the effect of targeting expressions of separatism and unauthorized religious practice.
[6] Chung noted that in recent years, Chinese authorities have allowed for a gradual expansion of individual freedoms in many spheres, all the while maintaining strict control over religious, cultural, and literary associations of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet.
[6] In Xinjiang, authorities placed restrictions on unofficial religious practices, and closely monitored Muslims returning from madrasah schools overseas.
[6] Chung also noted that corresponding to the launch of strike-hard campaigns and economic stimulus efforts, there was an apparent decrease in the level of organized violent protest or bombings in the Western autonomous regions.
Chung noted that while instances of violent organized protest and bombings have decreased, heightened tensions between local ethnic groups and the Han Chinese who have migrated into Xinjiang and Tibet en masse since the 1990s.
[6] The government of the People's Republic of China has engaged in cooperation at the bilateral and multilateral level to gain support for its efforts to combat terrorism and ethnic separatism.
The Chinese government has periodically requested that authorities in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan crack down on Uyghur secessionists,[6] and that they extradite suspected terrorists and separatists to China.
The warning followed a high-profile raid on a training camp in Akto County, Xinjiang run by suspected East Turkestan Islamic Movement members.
