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US Issues Terror Alert to Citizens in South China

Posted on: Monday, 14 November 2005, 06:00 CST

Text of report by Hong Kong newspaper The Standard website on 14 November

US officials Sunday [13 November] warned Americans travelling in South China that they could face terrorist attacks in clubs, restaurants, churches or schools.

In an e-mail, the US Consulate-General in Hong Kong reported "credible information" that a terrorist threat may exist against US government facilities in Guangzhou.

The alert follows a confusing week in which US warnings of security threats to hotels in Hong Kong and the mainland were posted on the consulate's website, and then quickly withdrawn after Beijing denied the threats.

China's Public Security Ministry at that time described reports of possible attacks on four- and five-star hotels in China as a "sham recently fabricated by some foreign citizen", although it did not identify the nationality or identity of any individual.

Last week, however, a former US intelligence agent experienced in diplomatic security said information provided by mainland police to western hotel managers in China was not "vague".

He said he felt, based on information "very close" to what agents provided government officials, that foreigners in China do have a reason to be wary.

"It's my strongest suspicion that the soft targets that present themselves in a major city are an opportunity [for an attack]. And anyone who can make that link between what is going on in the Middle East and like-minded groups [in China], they will do that," the security agent said, adding that Muslim separatists in China "need to press" to get their message out.

Terrorists operating in the Middle East will use that need to attack civilians and combine ideologies.

In the e-mail, the US consulate advised American citizens in south China "to be aware of their surroundings and remain alert to possible threats".

The e-mail, sent to citizens registered with the consulate, advised Americans living or travelling in China to register with the US Consulate-General in Guangzhou through the State Department's travel registration website.

There was no indication of any corresponding alert from mainland authorities.

US President George W Bush is due to begin a week-long trip today to Japan, South Korea, China and Mongolia. He and his father, former president George HW Bush, are scheduled to attend the Ninth Annual CEO Forum sponsored by Business Week magazine tomorrow and Wednesday at the China World Hotel in Beijing.

According to one American diplomat, US government officials are very concerned about the East Turkestan Liberation Organization [ETLO], a target of mainland security officials since 2003, when China made the first open request for information about these groups from agents in Pakistan.

A recent crackdown on militants in the Pakistan border regions may have produced new information, the security agent said.

The ETLO is a network of Muslim activists which seeks an autonomous region in the westernmost Chinese province of Xinjiang. Numerous media reports point to channels through which these groups communicate with other militants throughout Central Asia and the Middle East.

"Both [Middle East terrorist groups and Chinese separatists] need alliances. They both need to press. One wants to be autonomous and one needs to make noise," the security agent said.

China, he said, is reaching out to other countries ahead of the Bush visit. The airing of information and then the denial of its veracity is how some governments ask for assistance in plugging security loopholes without losing face.

Private security consultants have also warned that Hong Kong could be the subject of terrorism during World Trade Organization [WTO] talks from 13 to 18 December, although no specific threats have been issued.

The US warning coincided with Police Commissioner Dick Lee describing the city as a "medium risk" from a terrorist attack, although he said intelligence at the moment does not indicate the city is a target.

Lee said he is seeking wide powers to ensure peace at the WTO talks and added that regular reassessments of the situation will be made in the run-up to the WTO conference and that appropriate action will be taken.

Lee also denied reports that police will be equipped with six water cannons from Guangdong with which to douse rowdy protesters.

Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

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