Residents mourn in Urumqi on Friday for victims of the terrorist attack at an open-air market, in which 31 people were killed. [Photo by Gao Bo/China Daily]?

International differences on fighting terrorism 'appear to have narrowed'

Swift and strong condemnation by the West of Thursday's deadly attack in Urumqi suggests that more common ground has been found in the international community to combat terrorism, according to experts.

They said countries should work more closely on intelligence and experience sharing to prevent terrorism from spreading.

On Thursday morning, two cars without license plates plowed into people at a market in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, with the occupants throwing explosives into the crowd, killing 31 people and injuring 94 others.

The Ministry of Public Security described it as "an extremely severe terrorist incident".

The attack was the second in Urumqi in three weeks after a bombing and knifing at a railway station left three people dead and 79 injured on April 30. This followed another deadly attack at a railway station in Kunming, Yunnan province, which left 29 dead.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement on Thursday's attack, "This is a despicable and outrageous act of violence against innocent civilians, and the United States resolutely opposes all forms of terrorism."

The swift US condemnation came after social media users in China criticized Washington for not immediately using the term "terrorism" to describe the March 1 attack in Kunming. It was not until March 3 that the US said the attack "appears to be an act of terrorism".

On Thursday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said, "The UK strongly condemns violence in all circumstances, and we stand firmly with the Chinese people at this time."

Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said of the latest US response, "It is a strong statement that was released very quickly. There is no ambiguity about this being a terrorist action."

Max Abrahms, a political science professor at Northeastern University in Boston, told online publication International Business Times the international community had been slow to treat Xinjiang-related violence as terrorism. "It is an important step for Washington to recognize the attack as terrorism," Abrahms said.

Ma Pinyan, a senior anti-terrorism researcher in Xinjiang, said the swifter and stronger condemnation from the West was a good start for China to strengthen anti-terrorism cooperation.

Although no organization has claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack, Beijing said on Friday that those responsible appeared to be influenced by terrorist organizations outside the country.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a daily news briefing that the attackers had been influenced by religious extremism on the Internet.

A veteran from the West Point military academy in the US with close connections to the Chinese military, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington should be a good ally with Beijing in the fight against terrorism as it had the most developed intelligence operation.

Ding Yuan, spokesman for the Global Alliance for Preserving the History of World War II in Asia and an active community advocate based in California, suggested that China work closely with some Middle Eastern countries — Israel and Saudi Arabia for example — to learn from their experiences in countering terrorism.

However, George Koo, member of the Committee of 100, which promotes better ties between China and the US, said that in the long run China needed to find ways to lessen the impact of random violence.

"Finding the roots of the discontent that leads to terrorists being willing to commit such acts of desperation is perhaps even more important."

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Reuters contributed to this story.