A preliminary probe found that the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) was behind the explosion at the weekend that left six civilians dead and 15 others wounded in Kashgar, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The leaders of the group learned terrorist techniques in ETIM camps in Pakistan before they penetrated into Xinjiang.

The explosion again sends the message that terrorism is still a threat and that we must remain vigilant. Combating terrorism should be high on the agenda of our governments, especially those in border areas. It is also wrong and misleading to interpret the violent incidents in Xinjiang, including a recent attack on a police station in Hotan, as ethnic conflicts.

People from different ethnic groups have been coexisting peacefully in the region for many years. The social stability and the lives of local residents would not have been so brutally disrupted were it not for the terrorist acts of the ETIM, an international terrorist organization which is said to be the "most violent and dangerous" among the "East Turkistan" separatist forces.

In May a spokesman for the National Counter-terrorism Office of China said that while the region is generally stable, the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism have been colluding with "East Turkistan" terrorist forces both in and out of China in recent years.

Social turmoil and public panic are exactly what the ETIM wants to achieve in Xinjiang. However, very few residents, no matter what ethnic group they are from, want their peaceful lives disrupted by explosions, riots and attacks against innocent people. Most are well aware that the more terrorist attacks there are, the more ordinary people will suffer.

It is definitely right that no leniency should be shown to separatist activities and extremist forces. The government should make every effort to crack down on groups that employ terror tactics as a means to materialize their ambition of splitting a country or fanning extremist sentiments.

Such terrorist acts not only endanger people's lives, they also undermine social stability and have a detrimental effect on economic development and social progress, which in turn take their toll on residents' living standards and the quality of their lives.

At an emergency meeting convened immediately after the Kashgar attack on Sunday, Zhang Chunxian, Party secretary of Xinjiang region, called for a crackdown on terrorist attacks and extremist forces.

At the same time, measures should be taken to strengthen unity of different ethnic groups and greater efforts be made to inject vitality into the local economy so that living standards will be substantially improved for all residents.

(China Daily 08/02/2011 page8)