Country Reports on Terrorism 2012 - China

Overview: China's cooperation with the United States on counterterrorism issues remained marginal with little reciprocity in information exchanges. China continued to expand cooperation with countries in the region and conducted joint counterterrorism training exercises with Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Thailand. China's domestic counterterrorism efforts remained primarily focused against the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of northwest China. In public statements, government officials singled out the "Three Evils" of extremism, separatism, and terrorism in Xinjiang as the main terrorist threat to the nation and characterized Uighur discontent as terrorist activity. Human rights organizations continued to maintain that China used counterterrorism as a pretext to suppress Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group that makes up a large percentage of the population of the XUAR.

2012 Terrorist Incidents: The Chinese government characterized two incidents in the XUAR as terrorist attacks. On February 28, nine violent extremists armed with knives attacked a crowd in Kashgar prefecture, reportedly killing 15 and injuring 16 pedestrians. Seven of the attackers were reportedly killed in the ensuing clash with police, and the alleged ringleader, a Uighur, was sentenced to death. On June 29, six Uighurs allegedly attempted to hijack a Chinese airliner en route from Hotan to Urumqi, and injured 10, reportedly using aluminum pipes from a dismantled pair of crutches. According to official Chinese media, three Uighurs were sentenced to death and one received life in prison after reportedly confessing to the crimes of organizing, leading, or participating in a terrorist group, hijacking, and attempting to detonate explosives on an aircraft.

Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security: In March, China's National People's Congress amended the country's criminal procedure law to include measures to provide protection for witnesses, victims, or their close relatives whose personal safety is at risk because of their testimony in cases involving, among other things, crimes of terrorism. The new legislation, which came into effect January 2013, also includes controversial measures that strengthen Chinese authorities' ability to arrest and detain individuals suspected of "endangering state security or crimes of terrorism." This legislation includes a clause that allows for detention without notification of a suspect's relatives in terrorism-related cases where such notification may "impede the investigation." The Chinese typically did not provide public information on law enforcement actions in response to terrorist attacks. Two exceptions were domestic media reports of trial results for those accused of participating in the two attacks cited above.

Although China continues to stress the importance of counterterrorism cooperation, Chinese law enforcement agencies remained reluctant to conduct joint investigations with U.S. law enforcement agencies or provide assistance in cases involving suspected terrorists.

Countering Terrorist Finance: China is a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), a FATF-style regional body. In October 2011, the Chinese government established a legal framework and administrative authority for enforcing UN designations: the "Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Strengthening Counterterrorism Work" and the accompanying "Statement of Decision on Strengthening Counterterrorism Work." This authority provides the legal basis for the establishment of a national interagency terrorist asset freezing body that, if robustly implemented, should strengthen China's implementation of UNSCRs 1267/1989, 1988, and 1373.

Because the People's Bank of China, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of State Security are currently drafting implementing regulations for the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Strengthening Counterterrorism Work and the accompanying Statement of Decision on Strengthening Counterterrorism Work, the impact of these new regulations remains to be seen. Although mandatory, Chinese courts still do not systematically pursue the confiscation of criminal proceeds, including terrorist assets. Regarding the monitoring of non-profit organizations, China has a deep and far-reaching system of oversight; however, there were no identifiable measures or requirements specifically for preventing terrorist finance abuses in this sector. For further information on money laundering and financial crimes, we refer you to the 2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume 2, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes: http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/index.htm.

Regional and International Cooperation: Throughout the year, China publicly affirmed its commitment to working with international partners to counter terrorism. China continued to voice support for three UNSC committees – the 1267 Committee, the Counterterrorism Committee, and the 1540 Committee. China is a founding member of the Global Counterterrorism Forum and in June, supported the establishment of the International Center for Excellence for Countering Violent Extremism in Abu Dhabi. In January, China participated in the third APEC workshop on counterterrorism finance and the non-profit organization sector.

China cooperated with other nations on counterterrorism efforts through military exercises and assistance. In May, China hosted Thai marine forces in Guangdong province for joint counterterrorism drills (Blue Commando 2012). In July, Tajikistan hosted Shanghai Cooperation Organization members China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia for counterterrorism exercises (Peace Mission 2012). Also in July, China and Indonesia held their second round of counterterrorism exercises in China (Sharp Knife 2012).