Efforts in rooting out terrorism bear fruit

China has broken up more than 1,900 violent terrorist gangs, arrested about 14,000 people involved and seized over 2,000 explosive devices since 2014, which has effectively maintained social stability, and the nation has seen no violent terrorist incident for more than four years, the Ministry of Public Security said on Wednesday.

The National Leading Group for Counter-Terrorism launched a nationwide campaign to crack down on violent terrorist activities in 2014, and the vast majority of violent and terrorist activities were detected and tackled before they occurred, said Liu Yunfeng, head of the ministry's counter-terrorism bureau.

"We oppose linking terrorism with any particular region, ethnic group or religion, and we have tried our best to prevent the occurrence of violent terrorist incidents," Liu said.

"We still need to remain on high alert. Many countries, including China, still face the real threat of terrorism. The risk of sabotage carried out by individuals incited by foreign terrorist forces cannot be completely excluded."

China has identified four terrorist organizations and 25 leaders of terrorist organizations since 2003.Among them was the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which has planned and carried out hundreds of violent and terrorist attacks in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region that have caused great losses in the region both in human and financial terms.

With the intensification of China's anti-terrorism efforts, the ETIM suffered heavy losses and shifted the focus of its activities abroad, said Wu Xin, deputy head of the bureau.

However, the ETIM has collaborated with international terrorist forces to establish training camps abroad and to recruit and train terrorists, and it plans and carries out terrorist attacks against China and other countries, Wu said.

It also frequently publishes audio and video materials to incite people in China to carry out terrorist activities and keeps sending personnel to China trying to wreak havoc. China's public security organs and national security organs solve related cases every year, Wu added.

In October 2020, then United States secretary of state Mike Pompeo revoked the designation of the ETIM as a terrorist organization.

"Such a move is politicizing the anti-terrorism issue and uses it as a tool to control and deter China through terrorism," Wu said.

"We firmly oppose double standards on countering terrorism and oppose supporting terrorist activities under the pretext of ethnic origin, religion and human rights. We will resolutely combat the ETIM and other terrorist forces and spare no effort to safeguard national security and international peace."

The State Council Information Office issued a white paper on Wednesday titled "Respecting and Protecting the Rights of All Ethnic Groups in Xinjiang", saying that the infiltration of extremism has been effectively curbed, and the right to life of people of all ethnic groups has been fully protected in Xinjiang.