Posted on 05/13/2006 7:55:30 AM PDT by maui_hawaii
BEIJING — A top Chinese official accused the United States Friday of hindering the global anti-terror campaign by refusing to hand over five Chinese Muslims released from the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
Parliament Vice Chairman Ismail Amat, the highest-ranking member of the Muslim Uighur minority in the Chinese Communist Party, said his nation suspects the five men, who were captured during the U.S. assault on Afghanistan in 2001-2002, are members of a terror group.
"I think America is implementing a double standard in fighting terrorism. This is unacceptable to us," said Amat, who is also a member of the party's Central Committee, the heart of Chinese power.
The U.S. military flew the men to Albania last week after Washington concluded they posed no terrorist threat to the United States but might face persecution if they returned to China.
Beijing has demanded they be returned to China and linked them to the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, which it says has ties to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network.
"They received Taliban or al-Qaida training in Afghanistan," Amat said. "They are hard-core terrorists and should be dealt with under the law."
Asked whether China had evidence against the men, Amat implied that their mere presence in Afghanistan was enough.
"The Americans caught them in Afghanistan," Amat said. "They were serving in a terrorist organization. They should be dealt with under the law."
China has been fighting a low-level insurgency against Islamic separatists in its western territory of Xinjiang, whose Uighur ethnic majority has close cultural and religious ties to other Central Asian groups. Xinjiang is sometimes referred to by Uighurs as "East Turkistan."
Beijing blames Uighur separatists for sporadic bombings and other violence in the Xinjiang region. But diplomats and foreign experts are skeptical and say most violence stems from personal disputes. China's military brutally suppressed a series of Uighur protests in the 1990s and is believed to continue to execute accused separatist activists.
No terrorist acts have been reported for years in Xinjiang.
While giving no figures for arrests, Amat said "mere followers" were sent to labor camps to be educated in "a correct understanding of ethnic unity and social stability," while organizers were "dealt with severely under the law."
Meanwhile the Chicoms arm the Iranians and sign huge oil deals with the Ayatollahs.
This should be no surprise from good ole Commie China. They like to crush all their own dissidents personally -- as well as suppress any damaging sources of truth about their internal barbarism.
But true...
I do tend to agree with the Chicom's on this ... especially if there are shown ties between these muslims and OBL.
Yep, it's me, George Bush and the US of A that's doing it all. Yep, we're the problem. Not the terrorists. /sar
How familiar are you with Uighurs?
LSUfan pointed out some good stuff...that ones going to leave a mark...
If these 5 dissidents are fighting against Communist China, then they can't be all that bad.
Not too familiar but this article has me reading. Here's one informative article.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/937qsgpy.asp
Again, my comment was specific to 'if' these prisoners have ties to OBL as the Chicom's are stating.
Long story short Western China was independent and the Chinese went in and violently took it over. They created forced marriages (to create half half kids) to stem the revolt...among other really violent things.
Their movement is completely and utterly home grown. Its been going on for a very long time and has no roots in what Bin Laden does. The movement is designed to create a free and democratic state, however some people argue over that (but not much).
Its been going on since well before Bin Laden...on occassion their tactics are extreme in nature. Thats true. The movement though by and large is huge so the ratio of extremeist to the volume is not that high. If it were they would have burnt the place to the ground already.
Some of the members may have sought out Bin Laden's group for training or what not (pre-9-11), and thats where they got caught. China has regularly accused the US of funding and training this group (historically).
They have zero ideological fight against America. Their start, finish, ends, and means is to get their state back. No more, no less.
Regarding the WOT, we cannot make it all about Bin Laden. He's the face, not [always] the root of terrorism.
I tend to agree too. They are muslim terrorists, and were in Afghanistan for a reason, and it was not to learn how to grow tulips. If they wind up dead in China, it's no big deal. They should already be dead, they just got lucky and were captured instead.
Of course, we could bring them to the USA, give them a collage education, welfare, and anything else the loons on the left think they should have, maybe free cars?
Wrong. Islam fights against everything that isn't Islam. Evil is evil, even if it kills other evil things. since it's no longer of any use killing other evil things, it should be destroyed.
You are full of crap.
>>How familiar are you with Uighurs?
Pretty much. Right on the street outside my apartment here in Guangzhou. They steal cell phones and pick pockets. Even cops are afraid of them. Honestly I dont like those Xinjiang people.
>>They have zero ideological fight against America. Their start, finish, ends, and means is to get their state back. No more, no less.
By bombing a busload of people and setting fire in a cinema? That's not terrorism?
The end results can be the same, but the ideology and reasoning behind it is different with each extremist movement.
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