Softer touch needed to battle extremism
Global Times
Since the 1990s, the actions of the East Turkestan forces have ratcheted up by gaining momentum from pan-Islamism and pan-Turkism, posing a great threat to China's public security.
The year of 2008 marked the beginning of an active season of terrorist activities by the East Turkestan forces. And the Tiananmen Square attack in October 2013 was a watershed incident that signaled the infiltration of East Turkestan terrorists from border areas to the center of the country.
Kunming witnessed a serious attack this March, which caused a large number of civilian casualties. Two months later just before the May Day holidays, two suicide bombers detonated explosives at the Urumqi South Railway Station, killing one civilian and injuring 79.
Under the new circumstances, China's top leadership has prioritized anti-terrorism. Chinese President Xi Jinping paid his latest inspection tour to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region at the end of April. Xi met with the local frontline security forces, stressing that the stability of this area is vital to the whole nation.
This rare visit sends a signal that anti-terrorism and anti-separatism efforts have been completely endorsed by the top leadership, and China is about to mobilize the strength of the entire society and work out a comprehensive strategy to counter terrorism.
Anti-terrorism efforts require not only an iron fist, but also soft skills. Only a balance of both sides can produce positive results.
China is now at a critical stage of transformation, which has inevitably raised many social problems. Any trivial spat in Xinjiang could be hyped up and twisted to be an ethnic or religious conflict by terrorists, who wish the Han and Uyghurs to be pitted against each other.
In the movement of countering terrorists and separatists, it is crucial for the authorities to guide public opinion correctly, unlink terrorism from any specific religious or ethnic group, and respect the freedom of religious belief of the minorities. Otherwise, a negative feedback effect, which means more countermeasures bring more terrorist attacks, may occur.
In recent years, Chinese authorities have put most of their focus on a two-pronged strategy in dealing with the rising terrorism in Xinjiang.
On the one hand, they have prioritized economic development of Xinjiang and are trying to improve the living standard of Xinjiang civilians, especially Uyghurs. On the other hand, law enforcement is sticking to a hard-line and active approach to crack down on any kind of terrorism.
Now, attention also needs to be paid to some soft but essential measures, such as public relations.
How to make the government policies prevail over extremist religious propaganda matters to the authorities' efforts to stabilize and enrich the border areas.
The Chinese government must pay attention to the importance of PR work, which can prevent the western development strategy and other policies to support Xinjiang's development from being deliberately stigmatized as exploitation of Xinjiang's resources.
This invisible frontline where different ideologies conflict is even more important than crackdowns on tangible terrorist attacks.
Since the terrorists base their legitimacy on religion, it is time for the authorities to unite religious figures who enjoy high respect and are patriotic. These religious figures can play an important role in preventing extreme thoughts from spreading in mosques, schools and prisons.
Besides, the authorities need to destroy underground pulpits, strengthen supervision over the Internet, and improve the community-based correction system. These measures will minimize the influence of terrorism and extremist ideologies.
The rise of terrorists also sounds an alarm for Chinese society that anti-terrorism is no longer just the government's duty, but has developed into an all-community commitment.
Not only military and law enforcement forces should be engaged, every social organization and even individual must get involved. This arm-the-entire-society strategy will be able to nip many terrorist attacks in the bud.
Moreover, crisis management and emergency responsiveness must be emphasized. They can coordinate every unit of anti-terrorism forces, minimize the impact of terrorist attacks and restore the social order as soon as possible.
The author is an associate professor at the School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China.
