US looks to increase counter-terror cooperation with China: Official

US National Security Adviser Susan Rice (L) shake hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on July 25, 2016. (AFP photo)

The United States is considering ways to increase counter-terrorism cooperation with China, according to a senior US administration official.

The cooperation would include information sharing and working to bring stability to conflict zones like Iraq, the official told Reuters on Tuesday.

During her visit to China, US National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Chinese officials discussed, among other issues, the threat of terrorism in “some detail,” the administration official said on condition of anonymity.

“Both sides recognize that we, as many others in the international community do, face a threat from international terrorism,” the official said.

“We discussed some ways that we could work together to counter that threat. Both in specific areas such as increasing exchanging of information, but also in other ways to contribute to stability in places like Iraq which can also have a positive goal here,” he added

A US State Department report accused China last month of a lack of transparency regarding incidents it calls terrorism, drawing anger from Beijing.

China has been urging Western nations to help in its version of “war on terror” in the violence-prone western region of Xinjiang.

The Chinese government blames the violence on what it calls “Islamist militants” who want to establish an independent state in the region.

Human rights groups, however, say the unrest is a backlash against Beijing's repression of Muslim Uighur communities in that area.

Independent experts on Uighur issues say China has failed to provide enough evidence of the existence of an organized militant group operating in Xinjiang.

The West has generally been unwilling to exchange information with China or cooperate with it on terrorism.


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