China opposes any country accepting Chinese Guantanamo detainees

China opposes any country accepting the Chinese Uygurs held at the Guantanamo Bay, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu on Tuesday.

Jiang's remarks came in response to media reports that said Switzerland was considering taking some Uygur detainees from Guantanamo.

China had always resolutely opposed the United States release of the Chinese detainees on U.S. soil or their transfer to any third country taking them under any name, said Jiang.

She said the detainees were suspected members of the "East Turkistan Islamic Movement," listed as a terrorist group by the UN Security Council, and should be dealt with by China.

According to UN Security Council resolution 1373, all states should prevent those who finance, plan, facilitate or commit terrorist acts from using their respective territories for those purposes against other countries and their citizens.

All countries, including Switzerland, had obligations to fulfill their international commitments, she said.

"We hope the Swiss side will proceed from the overall situation of bilateral cooperation, respect China's concern, effectively carry out its international obligations and not accept the Chinese Guantanamo detainees," she said.

The detainees, from China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, were held during the Afghanistan war launched after the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered the closure of the controversial Guantanamo detention center, where about 200 inmates are still held, by Jan. 22, 2010.

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6866777.html.