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16 April 2004
BEIJING – China on Friday warned Germany about a conference of East Turkestan groups this weekend in the southern German city of Munich which Beijing described as “terrorist activities”.
A spokesman for the ministry of public security told the official Xinhua news agency that some “Eastern Turkestan terrorist groups” will reportedly be meeting in Munich 16 to 18 April, including two terrorist organizations that have been banned in China.
East Turkestan is the name still given to the central Asian region of Xinjiang, a traditionally Moslem region bordering Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
Several organizations in Germany have been advocates for people living in Xinjiang. Last month, a spokesman for German-based groups advocating independence for Xinjiang’s Uighur minority said abuses of rights were continuing in Xinjiang.
“The Chinese ministry of public security calls on its counterparts in Germany and the state of Bavaria to be on high alert against the ‘East Turkistan’ terrorist groups and terrorists in Munich, Germany,” Xinhua quoted the spokesman as saying.
“It would be very dangerous if ‘Eastern Turkistan’ terrorists were allowed to operate in Germany and their activities were not stopped,” it added.
The spokesman called for cooperation between the Chinese and German governments and people to fight the “terrorist and separatist forces” and safeguard their “national and public interests.”
DPA
Subject: German news