Terrorists helping Xinjiang militants, China official says

[dArKeR]

Separatists in China's Muslim northwest are getting help from international terrorists - including instruction in "several training camps in Pakistan," the region's Communist Party secretary said yesterday on the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

Wang Lequan, who also is a member of the party's top-level Politburo, said the government is winning the battle against forces that oppose Beijing's rule in the Xinjiang region. But he said the efforts are hampered by assistance from terrorists abroad.

"We are fighting hostile forces that are trying to undermine stability in China," Wang said at a news conference for visiting foreign reporters.

"We have found some training camps in Xinjiang after the September 11 incident, but not many," he said. "The religious extremists in this population are a very trivial number."

http://www.etaiwannews.com/China/2003/09/12/1063331182.htm