“要做真革命党，先做真基督徒”教会▶煽动n兵变n战，灭清

The United States has revoked the terror tag for the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), an Islamic extremist organization that has been blamed by Beijing for attacks in its western region of Xinjiang. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo signed off on the order removing ETIM from the list of terrorist groups on October 20. The order was, however, made public on Thursday.

The ETIM is a small Islamic separatist group believed to be active in Xinjiang province, home to China’s ethnic minority Uighur Muslims. It was founded by Hasan Mahsum, a Uyghur from Xinjiang’s Kashgar region, who was shot dead by Pakistani soldiers in 2003.

The group, which was once alleged to have links with al Qaeda and the Taliban, however, continues to be designated under the United Nations Security Council resolution 1822.

Pompeo’s decision is seen in the context of the Donald Trump administration’s sharp criticism of China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, formally called the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Rights groups say China uses the ETIM threat as an excuse to impose restrictions on Uyghurs and discredit human rights activists outside China.

Beijing frequently blames the shadowy group for inciting violence in the country’s far west, saying the group wants to create an independent state of East Turkestan in Xinjiang.

As news of Pompeo’s order move emerged on Thursday, China’s foreign ministry insisted that the ETIM had long been engaged in terrorist and violent activities and posed serious threats to the security and stability in China, the region and beyond. “China deplores and firmly opposes the US decision… Fighting the ETIM is a consensus of the international community and an important part of the international endeavour against terrorism,” foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.

Dolkun Isa, president of World Uyghur Congress, the world International umbrella organization promoting Uyghur human rights, said China justified its mass detention of 1 to 3 million Uyghurs in concentration camps as a counter-terror measure. “Today’s revocation removes any Chinese justification that it is fighting terrorism in East Turkestan,” he told Radio Free Asia.