China reiterated on Tuesday its condemnation of, and opposition to,
any form of terrorism and called for international efforts to root
out such terrorist forces as "East Turkistan."
"What I would like to point out emphatically is that China is a
victim of terrorism too," Chinese President Jiang Zemin said at the
summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building
Measures in Asia (CICA), which opened Tuesday morning.
Addressing the meeting attended by heads of state and government
and representatives from the 16 member states, Jiang said the
separatists of the so-called "East Turkistan" are "an out-and-out
terrorist force" and they committed terrorist crimes not only in
China but also in other countries.
"To root out this notorious force is part and parcel of the
international efforts of counter-terrorism, which serve the common
interests of all countries in the region," he said.
Jiang extended "heartfelt thanks" to the countries concerned for
their understanding of, support for and assistance to the fight
against "East-Turkistan" terrorism.
China is committed to international efforts and actions against
terrorism and it has already conducted effective cooperation with
countries or organizations concerned in this regard, the Chinese
leader said.
"Even before the September 11 attacks, China and the other members
of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization had signed the Shanghai
Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism and are
now stepping up efforts to set up a regional anti-terrorism
agency," he added.
Conceived as a forum for discussing regional stability and security
with emphasis on terrorism and weapons of mass destruction,
Tuesday's conference also provided an opportunity to defuse
tensions between India and Pakistan over the disputed region of
Kashmir.
Both Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistani
President Pervez Musharraf are attending the summit and Russian
President Vladimir Putin is expected to be the mediator.
The CICA was first proposed by Kazakh President Nursultan
Nazarbayev at the 47th U.N. General Assembly in 1992 for
establishing a regional forum aimed at increasing security and
cooperation in Asia.
The 16 member states of the CICA are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan,
China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia,
Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Palestine, Tajikistan, Turkey and
Uzbekistan.
Later in the day, before winding up their one-day summit, the CICA
leaders are expected to adopt and sign the Almaty Act and the CICA
Declaration on Eliminating Terrorism and Promoting Dialogue Among
Civilizations, two documents designed to strengthen security and
increase mutual trust among the member nations.
(Xinhua News
Agency June 4, 2002)