April Sain-Ley-Berry | Beijing | October 27

IPS - China is contemplating new legislation to define terrorism more precisely, raising fears that the government is using the so-called ‘war on terror’ to crack down on Uyghur separatists in the country’s restive Muslim region of Xinjiang.

Beijing has laid the blame for a string of past violent uprisings in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, an arid and impoverished area in China’s far north-west, on organised terrorist groups, claiming that China faces a serious threat from fanatical Muslims in the region.

Overseas Uyghur independence groups, however, argue that such allegations are merely a justification for an increasingly tight state grip over the region.

The anti-terrorism bill is being considered by China’s top legislator, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), state media reported this week. Xinhua News Agency, the state’s official mouthpiece, stated that the bill is "expected to pave the way for further crackdowns on terrorism by defining terrorist acts and organisations."

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"Since 9/11, the Chinese authorities used the Global War on Terror as a convenient cover to justify its brutal crackdown in East Turkestan (the name separatists give to calls for an independent state in the region)," Alim Seytoff, director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) told IPS in an email interview.

"China is always quick to jump into conclusion with regard to any violent incidence in East Turkestan as an act of terrorism by Uyghurs trained overseas or sent by overseas Uyghur groups, which is always a fabrication."