 "China wants action on global terrorists but no UN ban on Masood Azhar")
Days after extending its blockade on India's move to impose a UN ban on Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar, China on Wednesday called for a stronger global response to curb cross-border movement of foreign terrorists.
Speaking at a meeting on counter-terrorism in New York, Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN said frequent cross-border flow of foreign terrorist fighters has caused ever greater harm to international security and stability, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The report defined foreign terrorist fighters as individuals who travel to a state other than their states of residence or nationality for the purpose of participating in terrorist acts.
"The UN and the relevant international agencies should set up counter-terrorism data bases as soon as possible and share intelligence so as to create conditions for effectively curbing the cross-border movement of foreign terrorist fighters," he said.
Wu's speech against the cross border movement for foreign fighters followed Beijing extending the "technical hold" on India's pending petition to ban Azhar for his involvement in the Pathankot terrorist attack.
Announcing the extension of the technical hold on October 1, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, said, "China always maintains that on the listing matter, the 1267 Committee should stick to the principles of objectivity, impartiality and professionalism, base its judgments on solid evidence and decide upon consensus among the members of the Security Council".
China, a veto-wielding member had put a technical hold on the move to impose a ban on Azhar six months ago in the 1267 Committee of the UN Security Council (UNSC) comprising of 15 members of the council including the five permanent members.
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China was the lone country which put the technical hold at the last minute which drew strong criticism from India.
However China's stand against movement for foreign terrorists could raise eyebrows in Pakistan as both Azhar and Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed are Pakistanis.
India has been highlighting the cross-border terror threat emanating from Pakistan and tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad are on the rise since last month's Uri attack in Jammu and Kashmir which killed 19 Indian soldiers.
Last month, India and China held their first counter- terrorism dialogue.
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Wu said countries should strengthen border control and law enforcement cooperation to stem the cross-border flow of foreign terrorist fighters, especially their "back flow".
The "back flow" apparently referred to the large number of Uyghur militants of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) which is blamed for a host of violent attacks in China's Xinjiang province, home to the Turkic-speaking Uyghur Muslims.
Wu also said the international community should strengthen cooperation in regulating financial and other fields and suppress attempts by terrorist organisations to acquire financing through smuggling oil, cultural relics or drugs.
"Being an important member of the international counter- terrorism camp, the Chinese government has always been resolutely against all forms of terrorism and violent extremism, and has taken firm measures to guard against and combat terrorism according to law and order to safeguard our national security and the safety and security of our people's lives and property," Wu said.
On combating cyber terrorism, Wu said the world community should jointly take measures to crack down on the use of Internet by terrorist organisation for disseminating violent extremist ideologies as well as planning acts of terror.
"The Chinese government is ready to continue to work with other countries in the spirit of mutual respect and cooperation on an equal footing, strengthen exchanges, and push for new progress in international counter-terrorism cooperation," he added.