Chinese official: Train station attackers were trying to 'participate in jihad'
Beijing promises a tough tack on terrorism after a deadly knife attack in Kunming, but it wants to avoid fanning tensions between the Uighurs, who were fingered in the attack, and ethnic Chinese.
Beijing promises a tough tack on terrorism after a deadly knife attack in Kunming, but it wants to avoid fanning tensions between the Uighurs, who were fingered in the attack, and ethnic Chinese.
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Chinese state media offered an explanation today for the train station attack that they鈥檝e dubbed 鈥楥hina鈥檚 9/11鈥�: The attackers wanted to leave the country to participate in jihad, but lashed out in China instead when they were unable to do so.
鈥淸They] originally wanted to participate in 鈥榡ihad,鈥� 鈥� Qin Guangrong, the Communist Party chief of Yunnan, the province where the incident occurred, told Xinhua and other state-run media, according to the South China Morning Post.
Earlier in the week, Chinese authorities blamed the incident on eight people from China鈥檚 restive Xinjiang Province in western China, four of whom were shot during the attack and four of whom were later captured, according to Reuters.
Beijing has long spoken out against what it says are militant Islamists from Xinjiang who want an independent state called East Turkestan. The province is home to most of China鈥檚 ethnic Uighurs, who are Muslim and have a different language and culture than the majority Han population.
But the response of authorities to the attack hints at their delicate balancing act.
Authorities blamed the attack on 鈥渟eparatist forces鈥� from Xinjiang, and have vowed to respond aggressively. Today, Premier Li Keqiang vowed during his speech at the National People鈥檚 Congress that 鈥渨e will firmly crack down on all violent crimes of terrorism,鈥� and 鈥渨e will ensure the safety of people鈥檚 lives and property.鈥澛�
But officials have cautioned against 鈥渨ords or actions鈥� that would inflame tensions, as they fear backlash over the attack could lead to a recurrence of clashes between Uighurs and ethnic Han Chinese that聽killed more than 200 people in 2009.
President Xi Jinping said yesterday that 鈥渨e will build a 鈥榳all of bronze and iron鈥� for ethnic unity, social stability, and national unity,鈥� according to Xinhua, who described his statements as 鈥渞esolute opposition to any words and actions that damage the country鈥檚 ethnic unity.鈥� 聽
In a briefing on China鈥檚 Uighurs, the Monitor's Beijing bureau chief explained that 鈥淏eijing's fear of "splittists" undermining national unity is so deep that it is hard to imagine the authorities taking a more relaxed view of local customs, culture, and religion.鈥�
Uighurs outside of Xinjiang have expressed concern that there will be backlash against them. Abdurehmen Kadir, the owner of a Xinjiang-style pancake restaurant in Dashuying, told The Wall Street Journal that he was afraid of a repeat of the 2009 clashes.
"I tell my people not to go out at night, and when they do go out, to be more careful," he said. "People had a bad impression of Xinjiang people before, they think we are pickpockets, thieves and dishonest."聽
Police have been careful not to inflame tensions in their searches in Kunming, the site of the attack, the Journal reported.聽