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US Seeks Greater Cooperation with China on
Counter-terrorism
BEIJING, Feb 19 (AFP) - The United States wants more
cooperation from China on counter-terrorism measures,
including the release of information on suspected
terrorists and tougher rules to prevent them stashing
money in the country, a top US official said Wednesday.
"Good counter-terrorism involves the nations of the
world pulling together and sharing information so that
we can get ahead of, and stay ahead of, terrorists,"
said J. Cofer Black, the US State Department
Coordinator for Counter-terrorism.
"We are very pleased with their (China's) cooperation.
We think it has great potential."
Black, here for the third round of US-China
counter-terrorism consultations, said he had "very
constructive" talks with Chinese officials,
specifically on "stopping the financial links" of
terrorists.
"The Chinese side is knowledgeable and looking into it,"
Black told reporters before his scheduled departure
Wednesday.
He said Washington wants to see strengthened
cooperation with Beijing in the area of
intelligence-sharing on the movements of terrorists.
"They (terrorists) are very flexible on how they go
about it. They assess through trial and error the
defenses of countries and try to work around them," he
said.
"What we're seeking to do is to have a timely exchange
of information ... (on) individuals that move around
the planet so that we can keep track of them and take
corrective action when possible."
One of the major fronts in the fight against terrorism
has been the effort to staunch the flow of funds to
terrorist groups. Black wouldn't comment on whether
China had taken the necessary steps to prevent terror
cash passing through its banks. He did stress, however,
that of the 130 million US dollars of terrorist
funding already frozen worldwide, none of it involved
Chinese banks.
Nonetheless he warned that China was susceptible to
being used as a refuge or channel for such funds.
"Any country that has a robust financial system is at
risk," Black said.
"This is an area of great concern to us. To seize or
freeze the money is very important so that ... we 'drain
the swamp on terrorists' so that they do not have the
support and the infrastructure they need to conduct
their operations."
Terror leader Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terror
network that was responsible for the September 11,
2001, attacks in the US, had also been a topic of
conversation, Black said.
While he said the two sides had discussed the
movements of al-Qaeda members, he would not be drawn
on whether the US believed any of its operatives were
hiding in China.
On a related issue, he said did not discuss with China
human rights groups' concerns that Beijing had
exaggerated allegations of terrorism in its
Muslim-dominated Xinjiang region and was using the
anti-terrorism campaign to crackdown harder on those
engaged in peaceful dissent.
Washington had warned China on the issue, but in
September offered a significant concession by agreeing
to freeze US-based assets of an obscure Xinjiang group,
the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).
Black defended the move, saying the ETIM met the US'
criteria for a terrorist group, citing classified
information and intelligence from Afghanistan that it
had contact with the former ruling Taliban and
al-Qaeda. Beijing has claimed ETIM is directly backed
by al-Qaeda.
In a further sign of improving China-US relations
since Beijing began cooperating with Washington in the
post 9/11 anti-terror campaign, Black said the US was
ready to work with China in any way it could to ensure
the safety of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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