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The United States took a big step forward in the international campaign against terrorism when it listed "East Turkistan" separatists as a terrorist organization.
"After careful study," visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Lee Armitage said on Monday, "we judged that it was a terrorist group; that it committed acts of violence against unarmed civilians."
The United States pledges to co-operate with China to crack down on terrorist forces, especially to cut off their financial sources, according to Armitage.
Finally, the United States acknowledged the fact that the "East Turkistan" militants are engaged in lethal terrorist activities, which lead to tragic loss of life and damage to the assets of civilians.
Since the 1990s, the "East Turkistan" forces inside and outside Chinese territory have organized a series of violent incidents in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region including explosions, assassinations, arsons, poisonings, and assaults, with the objective of founding a so-called state of "East Turkistan."
Evidence reveals that the "East Turkistan" forces are closely linked to Osama bin Laden, whose camps trained the terrorists and sent them to China's Xinjiang and to countries in Central Asia to organize terrorist activities.
Terrorism, a common evil of mankind, requires the joint efforts and close co-operation of the international community to fight it.
As an important foundation for the anti-terrorism alliance, a universal standard in the judgment of terrorism is a must.
If a country applies double-standards in the anti-terror campaign, for whatever reasons such as its own interest or ideological differences, it will only play into the hands of terrorists, exposing innocent civilians to threat.
Worse, it may shake the newly-forged international anti-terrorism alliance.
The US move is expected to further consolidate its anti-terror co-operation with China, who has reiterated on many occasions that it opposes terrorism in any form and has rendered support to the US-led anti-terrorism campaign.
(China Daily August 28, 2002)
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