Despite its disappearance, China continues to use the separatist group ETIM as a justification for its harsh treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang
Image Source: Getty
During the third Quadrilateral Summit in New York on 27 September 2024, the foreign ministers of China, Russia, Iran, and Pakistan expressed concern about terror groups like the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) based in Afghanistan, which pose a threat to regional security. ETIM is believed to be a separatist group founded by Uyghur Muslims of China’s northwest Xinjiang province in the Afghanistan-Pakistan (Af-Pak) region.
Beijing frequently cites the ETIM to justify its harsh treatment of Uyghur Muslims within Xinjiang. This forced the United States (US) administration under Donald Trump in 2020 to remove ETIM from its list of terrorist organisations after two decades. The US State Department defended this delisting by claiming that, for more than a decade, “there has been no credible evidence that ETIM continues to exist.” Beijing considers all Uyghur activists in exile—who actively speak out against Chinese atrocities targeting the Uyghur Muslims— as ETIM members.
ETIM is believed to be a separatist group founded by Uyghur Muslims of China’s northwest Xinjiang province in the Afghanistan-Pakistan (Af-Pak) region.
In 1996, China started a strike-hard campaign in Xinjiang to maintain stability. The Chinese security agencies targeted Uyghurs for alleged separatism and illegal religious activities, prompting many to flee to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asian Republics. In 2000, ETIM was mentioned for the first time when a Russian newspaper reported that Osama Bin Laden had pledged funds to this organisation in 1999. Reports suggest that the ETIM was founded by Hasan Mahsum, a Uyghur Muslim from Kashgar, who left China in late 1997 and initially went to Saudi Arabia and Türkiye for support but to no avail. He finally settled in Afghanistan with several other Uyghurs who fled Chinese crackdowns in Xinjiang.
In December 2000, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Lu Shulin, met Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar in Kandahar. During this crucial meeting, Lu Shulin sought assurances from Omar that the Taliban would not tolerate any terrorist group operating against China from its territory. While the Taliban did not expel the small Uyghur group, they firmly prohibited them from establishing their own camps. Consequently, ETIM seamlessly integrated with other militant groups in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. They further amalgamated with other groups after 2003, when the ETIM’s founder and leader, Mahsam, was killed by Pakistani security agencies near the Af-Pak border.
Abdul Haq Turkestani led the ETIM after 2003 and also became a member of al-Qaeda’s executive council. He, too, was killed in North Waziristan in May 2010. During this period, Haq’s position within the ranks of al-Qaeda and his oratory skills in the Islamic concept of jihad made him a crucial person for the rival Taliban factions in the Af-Pak region to solve disputes. By then, following its total integration within diverse militant groups, ETIM ceased to exist in the late 2000s.
China started lobbying against the Uyghurs with the US and other Western countries at the United Nations.
In October 2001, after the 9/11 attacks, NATO forces led by the US began their war on terror and invaded Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban. The Chinese government seized this opportunity to change the global perception of the Uyghurs and their peaceful resistance to Chinese colonialism. China started lobbying against the Uyghurs with the US and other Western countries at the United Nations. To get support for the claim, Beijing released white papers that claimed every Uyghur advocacy group was conspiring with Al Qaeda and the Taliban. China also claimed that the revolts and spontaneous protests against economic exploitation and Chinese rule in Xinjiang were acts of terror by the ETIM. Beijing blamed the ETIM for more than 200 terror attacks in Xinjiang that led to 162 deaths and 440 serious injuries.
To secure China’s cooperation at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for its military campaigns, the US designated the ETIM as a terrorist organisation in August 2002. It also assisted Beijing in getting the UNSC’s recognition of ETIM as a terrorist group. The designation of ETIM as a terror outfit legitimated Beijing’s harsher anti-Uyghur policies, including surveillance, cultural suppression, and mass detention within Xinjiang under the pretext of counterterrorism. Beijing created a vicious cycle of cultural violence against Uyghur Muslims through these draconian measures.
ETIM has become China’s convenient scapegoat to oppress Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. Beijing deliberately uses ETIM as a facade to justify its “counterterrorism” measures against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Furthermore, it exploits ETIM to aggressively pursue the extradition of Uyghur exiles from countries across the globe. In 2002, two Uyghurs were deported from Kyrgyzstan to China for plotting an attack on the US embassy in Bishkek, though the attack never happened. Increased Chinese oppression, forced sinification, and exploitation forced thousands of Uyghurs to escape Xinjiang and relocate to other countries.
In the last 10 years, China has set up more than 100 police stations abroad through bilateral security arrangements, including in the European countries of Italy, Romania, Croatia, and Serbia.
China leveraged its economic power to sign extradition treaties with 81 countries worldwide, including Pakistan, the Central Asian Republics, and Afghanistan. These treaties emphasised cooperation in counterterrorism efforts. The designation of the ETIM as a terrorist organisation by the US and the UNSC encouraged Beijing to silence the voices of Uyghur advocacy groups around the world. China repatriated over 1,500 Uyghur Muslims detained abroad, according to a 2022 report. Since 2017, 682 Uyghurs have been arrested by Muslim countries. Detentions were carried out by some countries even without rectifying extradition treaties.
China even used counterterrorism rhetoric to get the help of Interpol for the extradition of Uyghur Muslims. In 2021, Yidiresi Aishan was detained in Morocco after Interpol’s red notice issued by Beijing. In the last 20 years, Beijing has sent 5,530 warnings, threats and arrest requests to Uyghurs living abroad in 22 different countries.
Besides using ETIM and its counterterrorism gambit, Beijing also uses covert and illegitimate means to harass, monitor, and repatriate the Uyghurs residing abroad. In the last 10 years, China has set up more than 100 police stations abroad through bilateral security arrangements, including in the European countries of Italy, Romania, Croatia, and Serbia.
China has done little to address the real causes of the Xinjiang problem, which are economic, cultural, and political. Conversely, Beijing has employed rhetoric surrounding the ETIM not only within Xinjiang but also to counter Uyghur activism abroad. This strategy has effectively silenced exiled Uyghur voices in neighbouring countries and the broader Muslim world. The Chinese government has leveraged the US-led war on terrorism to suppress legitimate Uyghur voices both inside and outside of China. Although the US revised its position on ETIM in 2020, other countries and the United Nations need to reassess this ghost organisation to alleviate the suffering of Uyghur Muslims.
Ayjaz Wani is a Fellow with the Strategic Studies Programme at the Observer Research Foundation
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Ayjaz Wani (Phd) is a Fellow in the Strategic Studies Programme at ORF. Based out of Mumbai, he tracks China’s relations with Central Asia, Pakistan and ...
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