• Turkestan Islamic Party Expresses Support for Kunming Attack by Shannon Tiezz

Turkestan Islamic Party Expresses Support for Kunming Attack
by Shannon Tiezzi - Thursday, March 20, 2014

In an online video, TIP’s leader praised the deadly attack in Kunming and promised more punishments. In the aftermath of the deadly knife attack in Kunming Railway Station, both local authorities and the central government said that evidence suggested Xinjiang separatists were behind the violence.
To date, no organized group has come forward to claim responsibility for the attack. However, the Turkestan Islamic Party (which Beijing conflates with its predecessor, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement) has expressed its approval of the attack in an online video. In the video, TIP leader Abdullah Mansour both expressed support for the March 1 attack in Kuming and threatened more punishments.

“If the fighters of East Turkestan are now fighting with swords, knives, and mallets, our dear Allah will soon give us opportunities to fight the Chinese using automatic guns,” Reuters quoted Mansour as saying. Interestingly, though, Mansour did not directly claim responsibility for the Kunming incident, leaving questions as to who exactly was involved in planning and carrying out the bloody attack. According to state media, Chinese police captured three suspects after the attack, but no further information has been released.


The release of the online video is especially interesting as it hints at new tactics for the TIP. The group had previously kept a low profile, with little public promotion of its goals or methods. However, this may be changing. The TIP publicly claimed responsibility for the October 2013 car crash in Tiananmen Square, which killed five and injured 40. Earlier this month, Reuters conducted a rare telephone interview with Mansour, during which the TIP leader also threatened to conduct more attacks.
“China is not only our enemy, but it is the enemy of all Muslims... We have a message to China that East Turkestan people and other Muslims have woken up. They cannot suppress us and Islam any more. Muslims will take revenge,” Mansour said. In the wake of the Kunming attack, Chinese leaders have called for China to crack down on "terrorist" activities.

The video from Mansour promising more attacks will only increase Beijing’s crackdown on minorities. During the recent National People’s Congress, Xinjiang’s Party Secretary also singled out online videos as an area of special concern for China. He blamed 90 percent of "terrorism" in Xinjiang on people bypassing China’s online censorship and gaining access to "terrorist" videos and materials. As the TIP steps up its media campaign, China will respond accordingly. Mansour, according to Reuters, is currently based in Pakistan, in the mountainous region near the Afghanistan border.

Now that the TIP seems to be beginning a more public campaign to spread its message, Beijing will likely step up the pressure on Islamabad to play a more active role in rooting out independentist groups operating within its borders. Tensions over Pakistan’s security situation could have an important impact on China-Pakistan relations, especially on the fate of the recently announced China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Such concerns will also be foremost on Beijing’s mind as leaders try to formulate a policy for engaging with Afghanistan after NATO troops withdraw.