Beijing hails London's labelling ETIM as terrorist group

Beijing hails London’s decision to recognize the East Turkistan Islamic Movement as a terrorist organization, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

The United States and the United Nations have listed ETIM, as the group also known, as a terrorist organization since 2002. ETIM has carried out several deadly terrorist attacks in recent years in Xinjiang, and has been condemned by Beijing.

The British Home Office included the Turkistan Islamic Party on a list of terrorist organizations it published on Friday.

"TIP is an Islamic terrorist and separatist organization founded in 1989 by Uygur militants in western China," the Home Office said in the document.

The document noted that the TIP is based in Pakistan and operates in China, Central Asia, South Asia and Syria.

It said: "The group has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks in China, the latest of these being in April 2014. TIP has links to a number of terrorist groups, including al-Qaida."

In response, the Spokesperson Office of the Foreign Ministry said China endorses the British government's prohibiting any individual or entity from being involved with or supporting this organization.

China "welcomes the increased recognition among the international community, including the British side, of ETIM's violent terrorist nature and the danger it poses", the office said.

The British document also noted that the "TIP has been banned by the UN and is also sanctioned by the USA under the Terrorist Exclusion list".

The Spokesperson Office said, "We are ready to work with various parties, including Britain, to further strengthen practical cooperation in fighting terrorism and resolutely crack down on international terrorist forces."