Separatists, cyber warriors on China's hit list

CHINA'S military is training its sights on the rising threat of terrorism and sabotage from "separatist forces" working for independence in Tibet and Xinjiang province, it said in a white paper published yesterday.

The paper chides the United States for continuing to sell arms to Taiwan and indirectly criticises it for strategic "containment".

But a Defence Ministry spokesman, Colonel Hu Changming, told reporters that the Obama Administration could "create favourable conditions" for the two nations to improve military relations.

The white paper reserved its strongest words for independence movements in western China, following a vast and bloody uprising across the Tibetan plateau last year and a number of terrorist incidents that the Chinese Government attributed to "East Turkistan" separatists in Xinjiang.

"China is encountering many new circumstances and new issues in maintaining social stability," it said.

"Separatist forces working for 'Taiwan independence', 'East Turkistan independence' and 'Tibet independence' pose threats to China's unity and security."

The paper also said non-traditional threats such as terrorism, natural disasters and economic and information insecurity were "on the rise".

The document will do little to allay Western government concerns about the People's Liberation Army and its associates engaging in "cyber warfare" against Western military computer networks, including attacks on the Pentagon.

"China is striving to make innovations in the content and forms of people's war, exploring new approaches of the people in participating in warfare and support for the front, and developing new strategies and tactics for people's war in conditions of informationisation," it says.

China's defence establishment has softened its rhetoric about Taiwan independence since the election of President Ma Ying-jeou.

It also emphasised China's "co-operative" international approach and laid out the case for why China's military spending is modest compared with other countries.

LNK

Separatists, cyber warriors on China's hit list

Separatists, cyber warriors on China's hit list

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