The Chinese government said Tuesday that the exiled politician Rebiya Kadeer, a member of the Turkic-speaking Uighur minority, was attempting to split the westernmost Xinjiang region from China by colluding with known terrorist organizations.

"She was arrested for endangering national security and sentenced," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a routine briefing.

"At present, she connives with terrorist forces abroad and engages in anti-Chinese secessionist movements that are attempting to separate Xinjiang from China."

Kadeer has been nominated for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize that will be announced on October 13.

She was sentenced for leaking state secrets in late 1999.