China’s foreign ministry has reacted angrily to U.S. criticism of the level of cooperation from Beijing on fighting terrorism, after an apparent suicide bombing in the country’s far west pointed to a possible escalation of unrest there.
The Chinese government has blamed religious extremists for carrying out a bomb and knife attack at a train station in Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang, on Wednesday evening that killed one bystander and wounded 79.
Security was heavy on Friday in Urumqi, scene of deadly riots five years ago between Muslim Uighurs and ethnic Han Chinese in which almost 200 were killed.
The train station was bustling, with hundreds of migrant workers arriving from around China for seasonal work. Many sat on their bags in the station plaza waiting for trains to other parts of the region.
Units of armed police carrying assault rifles and sharpened black metal poles with hand grips marched in file around the station grounds. Black police vans and armoured troop transports were parked in front of the station’s entrance.
Resource-rich and strategically located Xinjiang, on the borders of central Asia, has for years been beset by violence blamed by the Chinese government on Islamist militants and separatists, but suicide attacks have been extremely rare.
‘China falls victim of terrorism, and always firmly opposes terrorism in any form and terrorist acts conducted or backed by any person under any name,’ the foreign ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.
Beijing is unhappy at the U.S. State Department’s 2013 country reports on terrorism, published last month, which said China’s cooperation on fighting terrorism ‘remained marginal’ and that the Chinese provided scarce evidence to prove terrorist involvement in incidents in Xinjiang.
‘On the issue of fighting terrorism, to make irresponsible remarks towards other countries and adopting double standards will not help international cooperation on counter-terrorism,’ The foreign ministry said.