Accusation on counterterrorism slammed

Groundlessly accusing China of using counterterrorism measures to carry out so-called "genocide" in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will severely hamper global efforts to fight terrorism, experts said.

Counterterrorism measures in China can never be misused as political tools to violate people's freedom of religious belief or carry out genocide as constantly claimed by some Western countries because they are all law-based, Li Changlin, a professor at Southwest University of Political Science & Law's Human Rights Institute, said on Tuesday.

He made the remarks after the State Council Information Office released a white paper titled "China's Legal Framework and Measures for Counterterrorism "on Tuesday morning.

China, which has long faced terror threats, has established a sound legal framework to combat terrorism over the past four decades. Furthermore, the country has always seen respecting and protecting human rights as an underlying principle in improving its practices in the field of counterterrorism, the white paper said.

"Some individuals and organizations in the West choose to portray the issues of terrorism in China's ethnic or religious issues. They also claim that the definition of terrorist activities in China is too broad while accusing the law enforcement forces of abusing their power in the name of counterterrorism," Li said.

The white paper has explained in detail how China's legal framework to combat terrorism has worked and has been continuously improved, which will counter such groundless accusations with hard facts, he added.

According to the white paper, terrorist activities have been clearly defined in the Counterterrorism Law, which was passed on Dec 27, 2015. The definition of such activities is consistent with the principles of international conventions.

Meanwhile, China has made consistent efforts to upgrade the counterterrorism provisions of relevant laws including the Anti-Money Laundering Law and the Cybersecurity Law to strengthen coordination among different laws, close legal loopholes and improve areas of weakness in counterterrorism practices, it added.

Besides building a legal framework to tackle terrorism, the county has attached great importance to promoting strict, impartial, procedure-based law enforcement, and ensuring impartial administration of justice and effective protection of human rights, the white paper said.

"The white paper also makes it clear that adopting double standards and politicizing counterterrorism issues in China will only severely hamper the global effort to fight terrorism, weaken the foundations of cooperation, and reduce operational effectiveness," Li said.

By attacking China's counterterrorism efforts and accusing it of "genocide", Western anti-China forces are trying to sabotage the stability of and instigate ethnic hatred in Xinjiang, which has been China's main battlefield against terrorism, said Yang Haitao, a professor at the Criminal Investigation Police University of China's School of Investigation and Counterterrorism.

"In fact, the human rights situation in Xinjiang has significantly improved after counterterrorism measures were effectively carried out in accordance with the law. Not a single terrorist incident has happened in Xinjiang for more than six years. Instead of fighting terrorism passively in the past, we can now actively tackle the problem," Yang said.