XINJIANG: NEWSPAPER REPORTS ON TERRORIST SHOOTOUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 000658

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/22/2033
TAGS: PTER PGOV OREP CASC KOLY KG AF KZ UZ CH TI
TU, GM, PK
SUBJECT: XINJIANG: NEWSPAPER REPORTS ON TERRORIST SHOOTOUT
IN URUMQI; MEDIA, SCHOLARS EMPHASIZE OLYMPIC THREAT

REF: A. OCS/FBIS CPP20080219480001

B. OCS/FBIS CPP20080214710001

C. BEIJING 581

Classified By: Deputy Political Section Chief Ben Moeling. Reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) The Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao),a newspaper run by
the CCP's flagship People's Daily newspaper, reported in two
articles, published on February 18 and 20 respectively, that
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) police raided a
"violent terrorist cell (tuanhuo)" on the evening of January
27 in Urumqi's "biggest residential development," killing two
"terrorists" and arresting fifteen more who have confessed to
their crimes (ref A). The article claimed the group had
received guidance (zhishi) from foreign terrorist
organizations and were conspiring to carry out "acts of
violent terrorism." Ministry of Public Security (MPS)
officials in Beijing on February 19 confirmed basic details
of the raid, but would not give information on possible
threats made by this specific group to the Olympic Games.
Media quoted Beijing- and Urumqi-based scholars who took the
raid as an opportunity to stress the terrorist threat to the
upcoming Olympics, with Beijing-based counterterrorism expert
Li Wei stating that "East Turkestan" terrorist organizations
have "on different occasions openly threatened to use
violence and murder (baoli biji shouduan) to interfere with
and ruin the Beijing Olympics." End summary.

CCP Media: Police-Terrorists Shootout in Urumqi
-------------- --


2. (SBU) The Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao),a newspaper run
by the CCP's flagship People's Daily newspaper, reported in
two articles, published on February 18 and 20 respectively,
that Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) police raided a
"violent terrorist cell" on the evening of January 27 in
Urumqi's "biggest residential development," killing two
"terrorists" and arresting fifteen more (ref A). Although
"several" police suffered wounds, none were killed in the
"well-conceived," "smooth" operation. Terrorists had rented
an apartment in Xinfu Huayuan development (xiaoqu) of
Tianshan District, which they were using to "assemble
explosives" and "carry out training." Police found at the
site a number of guns, home-made (zizhi) explosives, "violent
terrorist activity equipment" and religious extremist
propaganda. They had received guidance (zhishi) from foreign
terrorist organizations and were conspiring to carry out
"acts of violent terrorism." The terrorists have already
confessed to their crimes. The February 20 article quotes
XUAR Party Secretary (and Politburo member) Wang Lequan
stating in a "recent" interview with "Hong Kong media" that
"right now, we take out (dadiao) ten to twenty violent
terrorist cells (tuanhuo) each year."

Global Times Refutes HK Sing Tao Jih Pao Report
-------------- --


3. (SBU) The February 20 Global Times article also quoted an
unnamed Xinjiang official as "resolutely refuting" a February
14 report in Hong Kong's Sing Tao Jih Pao newspaper on a
similar incident (ref B). The Sing Tao article reported that
eighteen "terrorists" and two police officers were killed
during a raid, and claimed that "several hundred" police were
involved in surrounding the apartment. The reported location
of the raid was the same, but Sing Tao claimed that the raid
took place on February 4, just before the "terrorists" could
carry out an attack the following day on the eleventh
anniversary of the Yining ("Ghulja" in Uighur) incident of
1997 (see note below). The February 20 Global Times report
included Sing Tao's report of a planned February 5 attack in
Urumqi, but made no mention of the Yining incident. The
Global Times article also described the anger of local
residents at the fact that the Xinfu Huayuan development
police station had allowed a "nest of terror" to set up
"right under their (own) eyelids," just 300 meters from the
station, adding that one official at the local police station
is rumored to have been fired. However, both reports
emphasized the continued stability of, and local citizens'
confidence in, Xinjiang's overall security situation.


4. (C) NOTE: On February 5, 1997, Chinese security forces
brutally suppressed Uighur demonstrations against
restrictions on social gatherings of young Muslims in Yining
City, Yili Prefecture. PolOffs visiting Yining on the tenth
anniversary of the crackdown witnessed a number of

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approximately six-to-eight member security force teams
patrolling through the streets at night, armed with tear gas
guns. Additionally, one Han taxi driver told PolOffs to be
careful because the "Uighurs might riot." End Note.


5. (SBU) The official Xinhua News Agency, the China Daily and
other popular online news portals such as Sina.com, Sohu.com
and QQ.com all carried news of the incident on February 18,
but the story received minimal attention in Xinjiang local
online media. While www.xjnews.com and the Urumqi Evening
News website carried the Global Times story, as of the
afternoon of February 22, Poloff found no reporting of the
raid on two major Xinjiang online news sites,
www.tianshannet.com and www.xjdaily.com.

MPS Tells LegAtt: "Read the Newspaper"
--------------


6. (C) The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) confirmed to the
Embassy Beijing Legal Attache on February 19 that the raid
took place and that two "terrorists" were killed, fifteen
arrested, and no police lost their lives. Pressed for more
details, MPS officials simply told LegAtt to "read the
newspaper," likely referring to the February 19 Global Times
article. MPS made clear that the Sing Tao report of February
14 was "completely inaccurate." PolOff spoke with a XUAR
Public Security Bureau Propaganda Department official on
February 19 who refused to discuss the raid on the grounds
that he did not have MPS approval to do so.


7. (SBU) Asked about the incident at the February 19 regular
MFA press briefing, spokesman Liu Jianchao said he had seen
reports of the incident and that China's position on
terrorism is firm and "in line" with that of the
international community (ref C).

Media, Scholars Hype Threat to Olympics
--------------


8. (C) Both Global Times articles quoted Li Wei,
counterterrorism expert from the Ministry of State
Security-affiliated China Institutes for Contemporary
International Relations (CICIR),stating, "This incident
reminds us that ensuring the security for the Olympics is not
just limited to Beijing, and that in some areas where
terrorist activities have occurred, attention must be
increased." The February 20 article quotes Li Wei more
extensively. Li warns that "East Turkestan" terrorist
organizations have "on different occasions openly threatened
to use violence and murder (baoli biji shouduan) to interfere
with and ruin the Beijing Olympics." Li also points out that
other organizations and groups might commit violent acts
during "the year of the Beijing Olympics."


9. (SBU) Despite Li's assertion that foreign terrorist
organizations have recently decreased support for violent
acts of terrorism within China's borders as a means of
garnering "moral and political support from Western
countries," he warns that these groups are still actively
preparing and training and almost always have foreign links.
For these reasons, Li stresses that China's counterterrorism
responsibility this year is "formidable," and reminds the
masses to prepare themselves to prevent and deal with a
variety of "sudden disturbances" (tufa shijian).


10. (SBU) The February 20 Global Times article also reports
an interview with Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences
counterterrorism expert Pan Zhiqiang, who similarly takes the
topic of the Urumqi shootout as an opportunity to discuss
threats to Olympic security. Pan is quoted saying that the
Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX
Olympiad (BOCOG) must strengthen counterterrorism work. Pan
adds that Xinjiang must also continue to carry out
counterterrorism efforts on a "great scale" in order to
"vigorously purge" the home front of "terrorists."


11. (C) MPS officials told LegAtt February 19 that they
perceive groups like the one targeted in the recent raid as a
threat to the Olympic Games. When LegAtt asked if this
specific group had made threats regarding the Olympics, the
official gave no information.

XJ Secretary Wang on XJ terrorism
--------------


12. (SBU) State-controlled news portal Sina.com carried a
February 20 China News Online (Zhongguo Xinwen Wang) report,
which includes extensive excerpts from a "recent" Phoenix
Television interview with XUAR Party Secretary Wang Lequan,

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in which Wang discussed the history of terrorism in Xinjiang,
measures taken to combat the problem and even his detailed
assessment of United States-based Uighur activist Rebiya
Kadeer. (Note: The article does not include a reference to
security forces' uncovering ten to twenty terrorist cells per
year, as highlighted by the Global Times.)


13. (C) Wang describes the Government's account of the Yining
incident, which he alleges was organized by the "East
Turkestan Liberation Organization" (ETLO, also abbreviated
using its Uighur language initials as SHAT),and says there
were over 250 cases of "violent acts of terrorism" carried
out in Xinjiang by "East Turkestan" forces in the 1990s. The
report also quotes Wang telling the journalist that he was
the "first name" on an assassination list of the "East
Turkestan Islamic Opposition Party" in the late-1990s.
RANDT