China Directs Freezing of ‘Terrorist’ Assets

Stephen: Keep in kind that the definition of “terrorists’ is likely very broad indeed…I see this as catch the ‘black hats’ in many areas – social, financial, ethical – who are causing grief for others.

From BRICSPost – January 17, 2014

http://thebricspost.com/china-directs-freezing-of-terrorists-assets/

Beijing on Friday stepped up its anti-terror campaign by announcing a regulation for freezing accounts suspected of links to terror activities.

Rules have been released to “standardise the process and action of freezing assets related to suspected terror activities and protect state security and the interests of society”.

The regulation, jointly issued by the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of State Security, comes into force with immediate effect, according to a statement on the central bank website.

The latest measure come amid an increase in Beijing’s counter-terrorist activities, even as a group called the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) sent out ominous threats of future attacks on China.

The Central Bank of China has said all financial institutions must report to it if they have “reasonable suspicion” about accounts with suspected “terror activities”.

Assets must be frozen of names on the Chinese government’s list of terror groups, directed the Central Bank.

The Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region plans to double the budget for its public security bureau to fight terrorism this year, according to a China Daily report.

The region’s public security bureau will receive 2 million yuan ($330420) this year to combat terrorism, according to the draft of the government’s budget report released at the annual session of Xinjiang Regional People’s Congress, which started on Thursday.

The death toll in the restive region of Xinjiang has reached 91 and the Beijing administration has previously blamed some of the violence in Xinjiang on Islamist militants.

Chinese police shot dead eight people during a “terrorist attack” last month.

The latest attack showed the serious threat posed by separatism, extremism and terrorism, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said after the attack.