Group claims Tian'anmen attack

Download

A group, calling itself the Turkestan Islamic Party, which released a video describing last month's attack in Tian'anmen Square in Beijing as a "jihadi operation" by holy warriors, is the same terrorist organization as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Five people, including the three attackers, were killed and another 40 injured on Oct 28 after a jeep, driven by Usmen Hasan and carrying his mother and wife from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, crashed into a crowd at Tian'anmen Square. Police later confirmed the incident as a terrorist attack and detained five suspects.

The TIP released a video in the Uygur language featuring a speech by its head Abdullah Mansour. In the eight-minute video message, Mansour said fighters would broaden their attacks and target high-profile locations in Beijing such as the Great Hall of the People, according to Reuters, which quoted a report by SITE Monitoring Service that tracks Islamist militant statements.

"In the video, the group openly declared that its members carried out the Oct 28 attack and they will deploy further terrorist attacks targeting China. This fully demonstrates its terrorist nature and also unfolds the truth to those who doubted the nature of the incident," Qin Gang, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a daily news briefing on Monday.

He added that terrorist groups, particularly the ETIM, have been engaged in rampant terrorist activities to achieve their goals and have caused great civilian casualties and property losses for a long time.

The Chinese government will continue its efforts to crack down on these groups.

The ETIM, a separatist group, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the United Nations and China.

Meng Jianzhu, chief of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said earlier this month that the ETIM was behind the suicide attack in Tian’anmen Square.

Questions:

1. Which terrorist organization is the same as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement?

2. In an eight-minute video, the group said they will do what?

3. Who is Qin Gang?

Answers:

1. Turkestan Islamic Party.

2. Deploy further attacks targeting China.

3. Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Anne Ruisi is an editor at China Daily online with more than 30 years of experience as a newspaper editor and reporter. She has worked at newspapers in the U.S., including The Birmingham News in Alabama and City Newspaper of Rochester, N.Y.